2004 unrest in Kosovo

Common card · No. 418812

On 17–18 March 2004, violence erupted in Kosovo, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 19 people dead. The unrest was precipitated by unsubstantiated reports in the Kosovo Albanian media which claimed that three Kosovo Albanian boys had drowned after being chased into the Ibar River by a group of Kosovo Serbs. UN peacekeepers and NATO troops scrambled to contain a gun battle between Serbs and Albanians in the partitioned town of Mitrovica, before the violence spread to other parts of Kosovo. Kosovo Serb communities and cultural heritage were attacked by crowds of Albanians. Serbs call the event the March Pogrom (Serbian: Мартовски погром, romanized: Martovski pogrom), while the Albanians call it the March Unrest (Albanian: Trazirat e marsit). The violence resulted in the displacement of more than 4,000 Kosovo Serbs and other minorities. More than 935 houses, along with 35 Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious buildings were destroyed. International and domestic courts...

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