The “Massacre of Sllovi” occurred during the conflict in Kosovo, when Serbian military and police forces attacked the civilian population of Sllovi, a village in Lipjan. On April 15, 1999, amid NATO bombings, Sllovi had been occupied by Serbian military, police, and paramilitary units. Serbian forces, stationed on a hill above the village and equipped with 5-6 tanks, launched an assault on the nearby village of Akllap. The attack resulted in the burning of Akllap and the killing of an elderly man. The following day, Serbian forces began their assault on Sllovi from two directions: Akllap and Upper Gushterica. They had taken control of all key points, including crossroads and village entrances. This attack led to the deaths of 24 civilians. On April 16, 1999, Serbian troops committed further atrocities in Lugu i Demë, a village within Sllovi. Seventeen Albanian civilians—16 men and one woman—were brutally murdered. The killings were particularly horrific, with parents executed in front of their children and children subjected to brutal violence, including strangulation, stabbing, and dismemberment in the presence of their parents. The Hague Tribunal later conducted autopsies on the victims’ bodies. (In the photo: The cemetery of the martyrs in the village of Slovija in Lipjan.)
Text: The encyclopedic dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. II , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 1060.
Photo: © https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1493655817482284&set=21-vjet-nga-masakra-e-slovis
Graphic processing: AHCF
