Terrorism in Serbia

[5][6] After the Bosnian War, the KLA began staging ambushes of Serb patrols as well as killing policemen, as they sought to capitalize on popular resentment among Kosovan Albanians against the Serbian regime.

However, strained relations between the U.S. and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led the Clinton administration to remove the organization from the terrorist list in late 1998.

"[17] In March 1998, just one month later Gerbald had to modify his statements to say that KLA had not been classified legally by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.

Serbian police responded by launching an operation in Likoshan and Qirez, leading to the killing of 4 KLA members and 26 Kosovo Albanian civilians in both villages.

[19][20] An operation led by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) from 5 to 7 March 1998[21] resulted in KLA leader Adem Jashari and his brother Hamëz were killed, along with nearly 60 other family members.

[29][30][31] In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group was formed by Shefket Musliu,[32] called the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB), began training in the GSZ, which was witnessed by KFOR.

[33][34] The group began attacking Serbian civilians and police, with the goal of joining Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac into Kosovo, which escalated into an insurgency.

[37] On 16 February 2001, a Niš-Ekspres bus carrying 57 passengers[38] was hit by a remote-controlled bomb that exploded in its vicinity.

The Serbs were travelling to visit family graves in Gračanica on the Orthodox Christian Day of the Dead.