Fighting in Pastasel

The Fighting in Pastasel was an armed confrontation between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Yugoslav government forces in the village Pastasellë near Rahovec during the Kosovo War.

Background

A ceasefire agreement was signed in October 1998 for a Yugoslav withdrawal from certain areas in Kosovo. The Kosovo Verification Mission was formed to Monitor parties' compliance with the agreement, Report any breaches to the OSCE, and to help affected civilians in Kosovo, report on roadblocks, oversee elections, ensure that independent and fair police service was set up. After the massacre in Reçak, peace negotiations started in Rambouillet, France. The Kosovo Albanian side signed the agreement on 18 March 1999, however the refusal of the Yugoslav and Serbian side to sign the accords led to the withdrawal of the KVM from Kosovo on March 20th and the start of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

The village of Pastasel () is a village near the city of Rahovec and lays in the municipality with his name. The village consists of around 100 homes and is exclusively inhabited by Albanians. According to witnesses the KLA had a base in the neighboring village of Drenoc, but was not in Pastasel.

Battle

After the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began, on March 28, 1999, a military offensive was launched against the KLA in the region south of Klina and north-east of Rahovec. The operation involved a joint-command effort of the Yugoslav Army, Special Police Units, and reserve unit members. Simultaneously, the Albanian population in the area were forced to leave their homes due to repeated threats and shelling of their villages. While the offensive raged on, fighting took place in the village of Pastasellë in which the KLA forces held their ground, after the defeat, the Serbian forces retaliated by attacking the civilian population days later.

Aftermath

After the fighting, Serbian forces entered the village in the afternoon of 31 March 1999. They then attacked with artillery, tanks and mortars. Following an hour of grenade-throwing, the Serb forces assembled the local residents in the field, separating the men from the women. Subsequently, women had their jewelry and money confiscated by the Serbian forces and were instructed to depart from the village. After the women had left the Serb forced confiscated several thousands worth of German marks from the victims and ID cards. A survivor of the massacre recounted that when his papers were taken, he was told: "You won't need any ID where you're going." The group of men were divided into 4. The first group consisting of around 8-7 young men or children aged 13–17 were first beaten and interrogated. They were then lined up on a Gully and executed by machine gun fire. the 3 other groups were also lined up and fired upon in the same manner. In total 4 groups consisting of 106 Albanian civilians were executed.