Today in history, 3 November: The killings in Podujevë

The recorded event closest to today's date in the archive calendar.

Date of the event: 28 March 1999
Place: Podujevë
Evidence status: Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.

On 28 March 1999 members of the “Scorpions” unit, deployed with the SAJ in Podujevë, shot 19 Albanian women and children in the courtyard of Halim Gashi's house; 14 were killed and five children survived with serious wounds. Two elderly men were killed nearby the same morning.

Full event record, with sources and map

Historical context

1999

From the Reçak massacre to the entry of KFOR: six months that saw failed negotiations, NATO's intervention, the mass expulsion of Albanians and crimes documented by international courts.

Read the chapter “1999: Reçak, expulsions and the end of the war”

Sources

[1]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević, Public Judgement with Confidential Annex. 2011-02-23. IT-05-87/1-T. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/djordjevic/tjug/en/110223_djordjevic_judgt_en.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
[2]Humanitarian Law Center. We Should Know the Facts: Podujevo, March 28, 1999. 2011-03-25. https://www.hlc-rdc.org/en/public-information/press-releases-informisanje/we-should-know-the-facts-podujevo-march-28-1999/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
[3]Paramilitaries Get 15–20 Years for Kosovo Crimes. Balkan Insight (BIRN), 2009-06-19. https://balkaninsight.com/2009/06/19/paramilitaries-get-15-20-years-for-kosovo-crimes/bi/all-balkan-countries/. Accessed 2026-09-16.