Going to Mitrovica was unexpected. Earlier in the day I had been to Prekaz, which is the village where Adem Jashari, one of the first organizers of the KLA, came from and where he and 57 others were killed in 1998 in the family's home. I also had visited the memorial of Tahir Meha who was a political activist alongisde Jashari's father and was killed in 1981 by Yugoslav police. By the time I arrived in Mitrovica, I had spent a lot of the day thinking about the history of Albanians in the Kosovo region and the lead up to the 1998/99 Kosovo conflict.
Mitrovica is city geographically divided by the River Ibar. Perhaps this is overly simplistic, but in a nutshell, the northern area is dominated by Serbians and the southern area is dominated by Albanians. There are Albanian areas in the north and Serbian areas in the south along with populations of Roma and Turks. While Serbians and Albanians do cross between the north and south, there is considerable tension between the two sides.
The day I went to Mitrovica, I was travelling with a Kosovar-Albanian friend who was game enough to take me to the bridge and cross it with me. However, we did not leave the bridge and go into the Serbian area. While I was curious to explore the northern part of the city, I was highly aware of my friend's unease so I didn't pursue it.
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