As the children played and swam in the river, shots were fired from the Albanian village of Zahač.

"For example, all the Albanian villages around Pristina are now in our control," he said, speaking of the provincial capital.

They said 14 Albanian villages were fully or partly burned in just a day around the town of Lipljan.

In 1833 it is referred as a small "Albanian village".

He added, "The Albanian villages are completely empty, the people are just gone."

Many rebels live in Albanian villages, and government officials often argue that their status as combatants is a matter of putting on a uniform.

It is known as the only Albanian village in Bulgaria.

"I passed hell there, doing things in the middle of the night, somewhere in an Albanian village, digging up a grave," she said.

Attacks targeted at Albanian villages and civilians are commonplace.

In a few hours they saw smoke coming from Oklap, a nearby Albanian village.