Brabonjic, 12 March 2000: For some
people, the war in Kosovo is not over. One of Agim Behrami's sons was
killed when he stepped on a landmine Saturday.
Behrami's son only lived to be 12 years
old, and he was playing with his brother and four other friends in a marked
minefield near the village of Brabonjic, about five kilometers south-west
of Mitrovica.
"The children saw many mines in the area," said the father who rushed back from Pristina to be with his family and the village after the tragedy.
Behrami was not able to give any explanation why the kids where playing in a marked minefield.
"Kids are kids," the father said melancholically.
The children were between 10 and 16 years old, and they were playing near a former Yugoslav Army (VJ) headquarters. The five kids suffered minor injuries, and three of them are still under observation at the Moroccan Field Hospital and the Albanian Polyclinic in Mitrovica.
"The mine field has not yet been cleared, but we have sent in explosive ordinance teams and soldiers to prevent people from going into the area again," said Lt. Fabrice Turco at the KFOR French Press and Information Center in Mitrovica.
KFOR strongly warns the civilians against entering marked minefields and to beware of the very present threat of mines, especially now that children are outside playing in rural areas and farmers are preparing their fields for seeding.