Wikipedia

KLA Summer offensive (1998)

The KLA's “Summer” offensive (Albanian: Ofensiva verore e UÇK-së, Serbian: Летња офанзива ОВК; romanized: Letnja ofanziva OVK) was a large scale offensive conducted by the KLA during the summer of 1998. It was fought in Kosovo between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) against the Yugoslav Army and MUP.[4]

KLA Summer offensive (1998)
Part of the Kosovo War
DateJune-August 1998
Location
Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia
Result Stalemate
Territorial
changes
  • KLA captures 40% of Kosovo[1][2]
  • Yugoslav forces regain control of most of the Eastern towns[3]
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FR Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Ismet Jashari †
Agim Çelaj †
Ismet Tara
Fatmir Limaj
Agim Shala †
Zafir Berisha		 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Goran Radosavljević
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sreten Lukić
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nebojša Pavković
Units involved
121st Brigade
125th Brigade
111th Brigade
138th Brigade		 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Armed Forces of Serbia and Montenegro
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Police of Serbia
Strength
several brigades Federal Republic of Yugoslavia T-55 and M-84 tanks
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia armored vehicles
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia unknown number of personnel
Casualties and losses
unknown Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 17 killed

It began when the KLA switched their tactics from hit and run operations to conventional warfare.[4] KLA forces began attacking towns and expanding their territory.[4][5] KLA forces had captured about 40% of Kosovo, and set up “Operational Zones”.[4][6] Yugoslav soldiers and policemen were attacked, leading to many casualties.[5]

Background

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Following World War II, Kosovo was given the status of an autonomous province within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, one of six constitutional republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[7] After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel.[8] In 1989, Belgrade abolished self-rule in Kosovo, as well as Serbia's other autonomous province, Vojvodina, as part of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević's "anti-bureaucratic revolution".[9] Though inhabited predominantly by ethnic Albanians, Kosovo was of great historical and cultural significance to the Serbs.[10] Alarmed by their dwindling numbers, the province's Serbs began to fear they were being "squeezed out" by the Albanians.[11] As soon as Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Milošević to oversee the province, enforced by thousands of heavily armed paramilitaries from Serbia-proper. Albanian culture was systematically repressed and hundreds of thousands of Albanians working in state-owned companies lost their jobs.[9]

In 1996, a ragtag group of Albanian nationalists calling themselves the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking the Yugoslav Army (Serbo-Croatian: Vojska Jugoslavije; VJ) and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbo-Croatian: Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova; MUP) in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of Yugoslavia, which following the separation of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991–92, became a rump federation made up of Serbia and Montenegro. At first the KLA carried out hit-and-run attacks: 31 in 1996, 55 in 1997, and 66 in January and February 1998 alone.[12] The group quickly gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom favoured a more aggressive approach and rejected the non-violent resistance of politician Ibrahim Rugova.[13] The organization received a significant boost in 1997, when an armed uprising in neighbouring Albania led to thousands of weapons from the Albanian Army's depots being looted. Many of these weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA.[14] The KLA also received substantial funds from its involvement in the drug trade.[15][16] The group's popularity skyrocketed after the VJ and MUP attacked the compound of KLA leader Adem Jashari in March 1998, killing him, his closest associates and most of his extended family. The attack motivated thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.[17]

Clashes in Belaćevac

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In mid-June, KLA fighters were approaching the Belaćevac coal mine. Upon hearing that KLA fighters were approaching the mine, the MUP personnel stationed there fled the mine. On 22 June 1998, the KLA seized the Belaćevac coal mine near the town of Obilić.[18] This operation by the KLA would threaten energy supplies to the region.[19] The attack represented the most serious challenge to the Yugoslav establishment during the time, not only because of the mine's strategic significance but also because of its close proximity to Pristina.[20][21] Upon entering the mine, the militants took a number of Serb mineworkers hostage, halting production.[20][18] Some of the militants were armed with automatic weapons, but most carried hunting rifles. There were about 30 fighters in all, most wearing civilian clothes.[22]

The KLA taunted the authorities by sending daylight patrols within sight of Pristina.[23] The fighters set up roadblocks, checkpoints and anti-sniper screens. Their heaviest weapons were two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and a 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine gun.[22] They forced the mineworkers to dig trenches separating the KLA from Yugoslav positions.[24] Soon after the mine was taken, Yugoslav authorities entered into negotiations with the KLA over the fate of the hostages.[18] The Yugoslavs also built roadblocks of their own, closed off the road leading to Belaćevac, and surrounded the mine with snipers.[25] About 100 VJ personnel were involved in the clashes.[26]

Backed by armoured vehicles, artillery and a number of tanks,[23] hundreds of VJ and MUP personnel moved to recapture Belaćevac beginning on 29 June.[27] By the first day, Yugoslav forces had advanced to within 600 feet (180 m) of the mine. Yugoslav officials explained that the VJ and MUP were deliberately advancing slowly in order to avoid taking casualties, and alleged that the militants were using the mineworkers as human shields.[28] One group of militants, including Bekim Berisha soon tactically withdrew from Belaćevac,[29] while another barricaded itself inside the mine's management building and workshops.[19] By 1 July, the mine was back in Yugoslav hands.[30] The VJ and MUP apparently used tear gas to dislodge the militants from their positions.[31] The town and its vicinity were largely abandoned by both Albanians and Serbs, and by fighting's end, more than 8,000 civilians had been displaced.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ Perritt, Henry H. (October 2010). Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09213-8.
  2. ^ Krieger, Heike (12 July 2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6.
  3. ^ Krieger, Heike (12 July 2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6.
  4. ^ a b c d "Koktsidis & Dam 2008, p. 170" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b Krieger, Heike (2001-07-12). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6.
  6. ^ Perritt, Henry H. (2010). Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. University of Illinois Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780252092138.
  7. ^ Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2.
  8. ^ Judah, pp. 38–9
  9. ^ a b Adam LeBor (2002). Milosevic: A Biography. New York. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-300-10317-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ Miranda Vickers (1999). The Albanians: A Modern History. New York: I.B.Tauris. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
  11. ^ Jasminka Udovički; James Ridgeway (2000). Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8223-2590-1.
  12. ^ Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2.
  13. ^ Dušan Janjić (2012). "Kosovo under the Milošević Regime". In Charles W. Ingrao; Thomas A. Emmert (eds.). Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars' Initiative (2nd ed.). West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-55753-617-4.
  14. ^ Judah, pp. 127–130
  15. ^ Sörensen, Jens Stilhoff (2009). State Collapse and Reconstruction in the Periphery: Political Economy, Ethnicity and Development in Yugoslavia, Serbia and Kosovo. New York City: Berghahn Books. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-84545-560-6.
  16. ^ Jonsson, Michael (2014). "The Kosovo Conflict: From Humanitarian Intervention to State Capture". In Cornell, Svante; Jonsson, Michael (eds.). Conflict, Crime, and the State in Postcommunist Eurasia. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-81224-565-3.
  17. ^ Judah, pp. 138–41
  18. ^ a b c Fred Abrahams; Elizabeth Andersen (1998). Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo. New York: Human Rights Watch. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-56432-194-7.
  19. ^ a b "New Serb offensive in Kosovo". BBC. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  20. ^ a b c Chris Hedges (30 June 1998). "Serbians Unleash Series of Heavy Attacks Against Albanian Separatists". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Animals take over village that changed hands twice". The Irish Times. 2 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  22. ^ a b Tom Hundley (29 June 1998). "Kosovo's Conflict At Doorsteps Of Capital". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  23. ^ a b Rupert Cornwell (29 June 1998). "New offensive dashes ceasefire hopes". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  24. ^ Tom Walker (1 July 1998). "Guerrillas in Kosovo 'killed mine hostages'". The Times.
  25. ^ Jeffrey Fleishman (2 July 1998). "A Ragged Army Fights For Kosovo: Poorly Armed Ethnic Albanian Guerrillas Continue Battling Much Larger Serbian Forces". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  26. ^ Amnesty International (1998). Kosovo: The Evidence. London, England: Amnesty International. p. 10. ISBN 9781873328316.
  27. ^ Adrian Webb (2008). The Routledge Companion to Central and Eastern Europe Since 1919. London: Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-13406-521-9.
  28. ^ Chris Hedges (1 July 1998). "Fierce Fighting as Serbs Try to Push Rebels From Kosovo Town". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  29. ^ "Serbia claims success in Belacevac offensive". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 1 July 1998. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  30. ^ "Serbs re-take Kosovo mine". BBC. 1 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Serbs Launch Offensive To Retake Mining Town From Kosovo Guerrillas". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
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