Abri e Epërme, Drenas, 26 September 2026
Full statement by Prime Minister Kurti:
From the unborn child in Luljetë’s womb, whom she would have named Malësor or Malësore, to Mihanja, who had turned 28 just one day earlier, and her son Valmir, who had turned two just five days before; from Lumnije and her baby, Dituria, who was in her sixth week of life and survived the massacre but died 54 days later, to Antigona and Mihanja, aged 14 and 16, and finally to the oldest victim, 94-year-old Fazli Deliu.
The scale and nature of the inhumane crimes committed by the Serbian state apparatus against 23 members of the Deliu family from Abri e Epërme, Drenas, on 26 September 1998, constitute irrefutable evidence of Serbia’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against Albanians during the last war in Kosovo.
The cutting open of a pregnant woman’s abdomen; the killing of another mother together with her two-year-old child, and of yet another mother who was holding her 40-day-old baby; the rape and massacre of 14- and 16-year-old girls; and the mutilation of bodies after the victims had first been shot in the head all bear witness to the cruelty and barbarity, as well as to the hatred instilled against Albanians over decades by the Serbian Academy, the mastermind that hides behind the scenes while witnessing the fruits of its fascist, chauvinist and expansionist policy.
On that same day, 26 September 1998, Serbia’s armed state apparatus also carried out a massacre in the village of Gollubovc, Malisheva, tying up and torturing Albanian civilians before executing them.
Justice is an obligation and the very least that must be done for the victims and their families. Therefore, international pressure on our northern neighbour must be greater than ever before.
Glory to all those who fell for the freedom of Kosovo!
