Many of the dead were KLA soldiers.
The KLA ordered villagers out when NATO started bombing. This was admitted in court by a commander, and a German journalist who met with KLA commanders, testified he saw priority evacuation lists drawn up by the KLA over a month before NATO bombed.
These villages, controlled by the KLA, were immediately evacuated when NATO started bombing.
The violence was initiated by the Albanians. They started bombing and killing the police, kidnapping civilians, torturing and killing them often. They even kidnapped and tortured Albanians who were loyal to the Serbian government.
Serbia was plenty violent itself, and is hardly an innocent party.
As for "who started it first", that depends on how far back in time you want to go.
Like I said, BOTH sides have blood on their hands.
Pretty much accurate Joan, the entire "Kosovo" bombing campaign was a sort of spasm of guilt by NATO for allowing the civil war to spread in Yugoslavia.
Both sides may have blood on their hands for different reasons, but only one side is claiming to be protecting the region while Orthodox Churches are burned and the province is ethnically cleansed.
NATO's hippocracy by allowing these things to happen while at the same time saying that "the Serbs will be given protections in an independent Kosovo" is daily joke that makes them look like two faced liars.