Families of the victims commemorated today the horror they experienced on the night of February 3 and 4, 2000 in north Mitrovica.
26 years ago, an armed group of Serbs killed ten Albanian citizens and injured 25 others.
After the night of February 4, around 1,600 families with around 11,500 inhabitants were displaced from the northern part of Mitrovica, after being forcibly evicted from their homes.
On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, a memorial plaque was placed on the pedestrian bridge with the names of those killed by Serbian gangs.
"Don't forget the past if you want a bright future" - was the red inscription, attached to hundreds of photographs of the victims, some lying down, others covered in blood, and one with his eyes closed, dead.
This open exhibition at the "Rexhep Mitrovica" center was attended by citizens and family members who looked longingly at their loved ones.
To conclude today and remember them forever, torches were lit near the memorial plaque.
Survivor of the Mitrovica massacre, Luan Abrashi, said that his mother was killed while he was in the apartment with her and his father during the bombing.
"My mother, Sebiha Abrashi, was there too. It was very well organized by the Serbs for the ethnic cleansing of Albanians. It was a terrible night, the murders were committed without distinction of gender, without distinction of age, in the most barbaric way," he said.
Abrashi said that the horror of the night between February 3 and 4, 2000, happened before the eyes of internationals, emphasizing that there was never justice for those who were killed, injured, and expelled.
"The tragedy is that there is still no justice for the victims of that night. It was a terrible night because it happened in the presence of KFOR and UNMIK. When they were supposed to provide us with security, we died in our homes," said the survivor of the 2000 massacre.
"These happened inside their homes, not on the street"
The former chairman of the Council for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, Halit Barani, also criticized the justice system, saying that the victims' lives were not lost on the streets but in their homes.
"It is remembered as a terrible night for the Albanian people who lived in the occupied part of Mitrovica. The killings, injuries and mistreatment occurred inside their own homes, not on the streets but inside apartments and houses," Barani emphasized.
Even though his memory was fresh and he had plenty to talk about, Barani summed up the horror of February 3 and 4, 2000 in a few words.
"Serbian Chetnik criminal gangs shot ten Albanians, among them a 13-year-old child, wounded 25 others with firearms and severely physically abused 93 Albanians in the most barbaric way, with two of them dying in Pristina Hospital on February 27 and 28, 2000," he explained.
The mayor of South Mitrovica, Faton Peci, said that Albanian citizens in northern Mitrovica were killed and injured during the implementation of the infamous ethnic cleansing plan against Albanians, reports Kallxo.
"Local and international law enforcement and justice institutions must ensure that the actors who organized these crimes are brought before the justice system as soon as possible and receive the deserved punishment," Peci emphasized.
The acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has also commemorated the 26th anniversary of the massacre of February 3 and 4, 2000 in Mitrovica.
Regarding those killed that night: Nezir Voca, Shqipe Voca, Niman Sejdiu, Bashkim Rrukeci, Sebiha Abrashi, Selime Berisha, Muharrem Sokoli, Nderim Ajeti, Nerimane Xhaka and Remzije Canhasin, where the youngest was 13 years old and the oldest was 65 years old, Kurti said that it will still take time for justice in this case to be fully served.
Kurti added that over 150 houses have been built and reconstructed in the four northern municipalities of Kosovo in the last four years alone.
As he said, among the citizens who have benefited from the investments of the acting Government of Kosovo in this regard is Mustafa Behrami, who in 2024 returned to live with his wife and their three children.
The first lady of the state, Vjosa Osmani, wrote that this anniversary is remembered with deep pain and respect as one of the most serious wounds of the post-war period.
She added that this was a blatant crime against humanity as well as a brutal attempt to break the spirit of a city and eliminate the presence of Albanians in the northern part of Mitrovica.
Meanwhile, Speaker Dimal Basha wrote that the pain of those days still remains alive in the collective memory.
