| Pastasel massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pastasellë, Kosovo (then AP Kosovo, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia) |
| Date | 31 March 1999 |
| Target | Kosovo Albanian male civilians |
Attack type | Mass killing |
| Deaths | 106 |
| Perpetrators | Yugoslav security forces and Serbian police |
| Motive | suspected reprisal attack (HRW) |
The Pastasel massacre was a mass execution of 106 Kosovo Albanian civilians during the Kosovo war, which took place on 31 March 1999. Serbian forces surrounded the village and upon entering they expelled the women to Albania whilst they gathered the males and summarily executed them. The victims were mostly above the age of 55 but also children aged 13 to 17.[1][2] Fighting between the KLA and Serbian forces had occurred near the village prior to the massacre. The Human Rights Watch theorizes that a KLA base in the neighboring village of Drenoc could have triggered the massacre.
The men were mostly older than fifty-five, as almost all of the younger men had fled into the hills.