Destruction of the Serb returnee village Belo Polje nr.
Pec, 17-18 March
These photos are showing the burned community center (parish home), some of
the houses and containers in which 20 Serb returnees lived. Belo Polje return
project was seen as one of the most successful because the villagers lived
without constant KFOR protection. On March 17 afternoon several US UNMIK
policemen arrived to protect the villagers who found refuge in the parish home
in front of several thousands of rampaging Albanian mob. After the Serbs were
evacuated by the Italian KFOR at the end Albanians devastated all Serb homes
which were reconstructed in cooperation with the European Agency for recon-
struction and other organizations and completely desecrated their cemetery.
Many tombs were opened, the coffins taken out and the bones of the decesased
scattered around. The Serb returnees were evacuated to the nearby Italian
KFOR base. Two of them were wounded in the Albanian attack. One US police-
woman killed one Kosovo Albanian in order to protect Serb civilians.