Kosovo authorities have discovered the remains of more than 20 individuals in three suspected mass graves believed to contain victims of the region's ethnic conflicts in the 1990s.

A joint statement issued on Wednesday by prosecutors, police officials, and forensic investigators said: "Forensic medicine institute teams have found skeletal remains suspected to belong to at least 23 individuals."

The statement added that "full identification will be made after the completion of forensic examinations and relevant procedures."

The 1998-1999 war between independence-seeking ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian forces claimed around 13,000 lives and left 4,000 people missing.

Over the following decades, officials have worked to uncover mass graves, revealing thousands of victims, but about 1,600 people remain unaccounted for.

Excavations began two weeks ago in the Zubin Potok area in the north of the country, searching for ethnic Albanian victims who are still missing.

Kosovo's acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated during the excavation that the remains most likely belong to "23 Albanians who were violently abducted in the town of Mitrovica and executed" in the spring of 1999.

Prosecutors said all remains have been sent for DNA testing, though they warned the process could take months.

Police have also arrested three local men in recent days. Wednesday's statement said they "are being investigated in connection with this case on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population."

Source: www.aljazeera.com