2004 unrest in Kosovo

2004 unrest in Kosovo March Pogrom
Ruins of Serbian houses and Serbian Orthodox monasteries
Date	17–18 March 2004 (1 day)
Location	Kosovo under UN administration
Resulted in	27 dead (16 Serbs and 11 Albanians) and more than 8000 Serbs expelled from Kosovo.[1][2] 935 houses and 35 Orthodox churches desecrated, damaged or destroyed[3][4] Inclusion of Medieval Monuments in the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger[5][6]
Parties
Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Albanians
Number
Unknown Over 50,000[7]

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History of Kosovo
Prehistory Archaeology of Kosovo Neolithic sites Copper, Bronze and Iron Age sites
Antiquity Kingdom of Dardania Dardani
Roman Kosovo Dardania & Praevalitana Roman heritage in Kosovo Late Antiquity and Medieval sites
Medieval Kosovo Bulgarian Empire (681–1018, 1185–1396) First Empire Second Empire Kingdom of Serbia (1217–1346) Serbian Empire (1346–1371) District of Branković (1371–1412) Branković dynasty Moravian Serbia (1371–1402) Battle of Kosovo (1389) Serbian Despotate (1402–1459) Principality of Dukagjini (1387–1478) Dukagjini family
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Contemporary Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2006) Autonomous Province 1991 Kosovan independence referendum First Republic Kosovo War (1998–1999) NATO bombing of Yugoslavia Kumanovo Agreement UN administration (UNMIK) 2004 unrest 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence 2008 unrest in Kosovo 2008 protests Second Republic (2008–Present) North Kosovo Crises 2011–2013 2012 Referendum Brussels Agreement Washington Agreement 2021 2022–2024 Ohrid Agreement Banjska attack
See Also Timeline of Kosovo history Destruction of Albanian heritage Destruction of Serbian heritage
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On 17–18 March 2004, violence erupted in the partitioned town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 14 people dead. The unrest was precipitated by reports in the Kosovo Albanian media which falsely claimed that three Kosovo Albanian boys had drowned after being chased into the Ibar River by a group of Kosovo Serbs. UN peacekeepers and NATO troops scrambled to contain a gun battle between Serbs and Albanians.^[8] Serbs call the event the March Pogrom (Serbian: Мартовски погром, romanized: Martovski pogrom),^[9] while the Albanians call it the March Unrest (Albanian: Trazirat e marsit).

International courts in Pristina have prosecuted people who attacked several Serbian Orthodox churches, handing down prison sentences ranging from 21 months to 16 years.^[10] Some of the destroyed churches have since been rebuilt by the Government of Kosovo in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UN mission in Kosovo.^[11]