By DPA
Pristina : Kosovo authorities Thursday started retrieving human remains from a suspected mass grave from the 1999 conflict in the province.
The site, 60 kilometres west of Pristina, was discovered Tuesday when a shepherd stumbled onto human bones. Early excavation unearthed a "considerable amount" of remains, police said.
Other details, including the number of bodies, were not immediately clear. The site is located between what was a Serb village and two villages of mixed Albanian and Serb population, so the identity of the victims will be revealed only by DNA testing.
The area, in the Klina municipality, was the scene of fighting between Albanian guerrillas and Belgrade's forces in 1999, local residents said. Some 100 people from Klina, mostly Albanians, remain missing from that time.
Overall in Kosovo, 5,206 people – Albanians, Serbs and others – were reported missing after the conflict, according to International Red Cross figures.
More than 2,000 people are still unaccounted for today, seven years since NATO ended the war by bombing Serbia into forcing the pullout of its troops from Kosovo.
The province has been run by a UN administration since then, though local authorities have been assuming an increased share in governing.
The Albanians, who are a vast majority, expect independence for Kosovo quickly, while Belgrade insists on retaining sovereignty over the province and offers it autonomy.