The bombings came on the eve of a visit to Kosovo by UN General Secretary Kofi Annan. At least 110 Serb Christian sites (churches, monasteries, graveyards etc.) have been damaged or destroyed in Kosovo since the United Nations took control in June 1999. Church leaders and other christians have also faced violence and hostility from ethnic Albanians especially where UN checkpoints in the vicinity of churches have been withdrawn in recent months. Ethnic Albanian Muslim extremists regard churches as symbols of Serbian domination and see them as legitimate targets. However, the vast majority of Serbian Christians in Kosovo had nothing to do with the ethnic cleansing, which took, place before NATO forces entered the province. Those who have not fled is now a minority in Kosovo and face continued violence from the ethnic Albanian Muslim majority.