Extremists bring fear to administrative line

Several villages in the south have been depopulated due to frequent incursions of Albanian extremists from the territory of Kosovo.

Izvor: B92

Sunday, 29.03.2009.

17:03

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Several villages in the south have been depopulated due to frequent incursions of Albanian extremists from the territory of Kosovo. The villagers from the Kursumlija municipality area along 100 kilometers of the administrative line between the province and central Serbia left their homes as they no longer feel safe. Extremists bring fear to administrative line At the same time, timber thieves are more frequently ravaging the forests in the area. The local self-government is warning that other villagers in the region, known also as the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ), are in danger of being abandoned by their residents. Kursumlija Mayor Dejan Milosevic says that only a handful of households remain in the mountain villages, with elderly residents staying in their homes. "There are currently six empty villages on the line of separation with Kosovo, and twenty more where there is only a handful of residents, especially the elderly, since young people have left. These villages could see the same fate as the others, losing all villagers," said he. The village of Tacevac is a case in point, from which residents fled after frequent Albanian incursions from the Podujevo area. The last to leave were the Aleksics, who now, according to Kosta Aleksic, "to all intents and purposes live in exile only a few kilometers from home". "When our army withdrew we all left. We could no longer stay up there… And they [Albanians] later started attacking us, they wanted us to move, to kill, burn us," he says. The family nowadays only ventures to their native village to visit the cemetery, but even then, they say, "carrying weapons". Police and soldiers patrol the administrative line, where due to the small number of residents, Albanian thieves cross to steal timber. Chief of the local Forestry Directorate Branislav Prolovic explains that these incidents often include exchanges of fire, since the thieves are well organized and armed with automatic weapons. The public forestry management company, Srbijasume, says that Albanian timber thieves have stolen tens of thousands of cubic meters of wood in the Kursumlija municipality area.

Extremists bring fear to administrative line

At the same time, timber thieves are more frequently ravaging the forests in the area.

The local self-government is warning that other villagers in the region, known also as the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ), are in danger of being abandoned by their residents.

Kuršumlija Mayor Dejan Milošević says that only a handful of households remain in the mountain villages, with elderly residents staying in their homes.

"There are currently six empty villages on the line of separation with Kosovo, and twenty more where there is only a handful of residents, especially the elderly, since young people have left. These villages could see the same fate as the others, losing all villagers," said he.

The village of Tačevac is a case in point, from which residents fled after frequent Albanian incursions from the Podujevo area.

The last to leave were the Aleksićs, who now, according to Kosta Aleksić, "to all intents and purposes live in exile only a few kilometers from home".

"When our army withdrew we all left. We could no longer stay up there… And they [Albanians] later started attacking us, they wanted us to move, to kill, burn us," he says.

The family nowadays only ventures to their native village to visit the cemetery, but even then, they say, "carrying weapons".

Police and soldiers patrol the administrative line, where due to the small number of residents, Albanian thieves cross to steal timber.

Chief of the local Forestry Directorate Branislav Prolović explains that these incidents often include exchanges of fire, since the thieves are well organized and armed with automatic weapons.

The public forestry management company, Srbijašume, says that Albanian timber thieves have stolen tens of thousands of cubic meters of wood in the Kuršumlija municipality area.

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