The lacerated bodies of an Albanian refugee family from Kosovo, killed in a NATO bombing in the village of Djakovica in the Kosovo conflict in the Balkans, lie beside a cart carrying a handful of goods, for two hours starting at 1:29 p.m. on April 14, 1999, during a NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, NATO forces bombed the village of Djakovica, 5 kilometers from Arbanija. Numerous refugees were killed and bodies scattered; NATO acknowledged that at least 64 people were killed and 20 wounded in airstrikes against refugees in western Kosovo on April 14.
During daylight hours on April 14, 1999, NATO warplanes repeatedly bombed the movement of Albanian refugees on a 19-km road between Djakovica and Dečani in western Kosovo. Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented alone that 73 civilians were killed and 36 injured. The attacks began at 1:29 p.m. and lasted for about two hours. Civilians were killed in numerous locations along the convoy route near the villages of Bistrazin, Gladys, Madanazi, and Mejia. Initially, NATO announced that fighter jets had targeted military vehicles. Later, the U.S. military reported that F-16 pilots bombed what they believed to be a military truck, prompting NATO to express "deep regret." Three Serb policemen were also killed in the attack.
The Kosovo Conflict Armed conflict erupted in Kosovo from February 28, 1998, to June 11, 1999. Yugoslav forces and the Kosovo Albanian Liberation Army fought. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conducted an air campaign against Yugoslav forces during the Kosovo conflict, and the bombing campaign lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999. The campaign ended with the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo. Yugoslav forces responded to the ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population, which NATO characterized as a humanitarian intervention, without UN authorization. The Yugoslav government estimated that more than 1,200 civilians, up to 2,500 people were killed and 5,000 wounded as a result of NATO airstrikes.
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