Prizren Front
| Prizren Front | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kosovo War | |||||||||
 The city of Prizren | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kosovo Liberation Army NATO Kosovo Force (from March 24, 1999) |
 Yugoslav Army Police of Serbia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ekrem Rexha Agim Çeku Bilall Syla Sadik Halitjaha Tahir Sinani Beqir Sadiku Kudusi Lama Wesley Clark |
Nebojša Pavković Vladimir Lazarević Božidar Delić Stojan Konjikovac | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
121st Brigade "Ismet Jashari" 123rd Brigade  Kukës Division[citation needed] |
Priština Corps Units 549th Motorized Brigade  72nd special Airborne Brigade Russian volunteers | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
light infantry battalions (up to 2,000 men) B-52, A-10 and Lockheed AC-130 units Artillery support |
three infantry battalions one artillery battalion one armored battalion air defense companies (reinforcements added during the battle)[8] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
64 killed, 40 wounded[4][9] |
182 killed,[4] 129 wounded[10] NATO claims: 32 artillery pieces, 9 armored personal carriers, 6 armored vehicles, 4 other military vehicles, 8 mortar positions and one SA6 surface to air missile[11] | ||||||||
The Prizren Front (Albanian: Fronti i Prizrenit; Serbian: Призренски фронт, romanized: Prizrenski Front) was fought during the Kosovo War between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which was supported by NATO and the Kosovo Force (KFOR), and the Yugoslav Army and Yugoslav Police. The Prizren Front was fought in the District of Prizren from July 7, 1998, through June 11, 1999, with a clash occurring on June 13, 1999.[12][13][not in citation given]
KLA forces entered Prizren under guard of German KFOR troops on June 14, 1999.[1] Following the Kumanovo Agreement, Yugoslav forces withdrew from Kosovo.[14]
Background
In 1992–1993, ethnic Albanians created the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which started attacking Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) police forces and secret-service officials who abused Albanian civilians in 1995. Starting in 1998, the KLA was involved in frontal battle, with increasing numbers of Yugoslav security forces. Escalating tensions led to the Kosovo War in February 1998.
Ambush in Billushe
On July 7, 1998, Yugoslav forces failed to liquidate a KLA unit in Billushe and were forced to retreat. The Yugoslav army and police pledged retaliation for the ambush, strategizing an offensive against KLA positions in what had been declared a KLA free zone.
Battle of Vërrin
First battle
Around 1:30 pm, the Yugoslav forces tried to enter from the Tusus neighborhood, in the direction of Leskovec, Lybeçeva, and towards the village of Hoçë e Qytetit. KLA forces started attacking the Yugoslav forces. The first day of confrontation between the two forces lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes. On the part of the KLA soldiers, there were neither killed nor injured, while the Yugoslav forces were separated with losses.
Second battle
On Monday, August 31, Yugoslav Police surrounded Lez. By Tuesday morning, September 1, 1998, around 8:00 a.m, they commenced shelling KLA positions in the hills surrounding the village.[13] The villagers fled to nearby Ljubičevo, while the KLA members remained. The night before the second offensive, the KLA had information about large movements of Yugoslav troops around the territories where the KLA positions were located.[13] The KLA soldiers were all in a state of readiness in their positions, with the command of the 125th brigade being put into action.[13]
The 1st Battalion observed Yugoslav movements towards the top of Cyileni, commanders Salajdin Berisha and Xhevat Berisha with a part of the soldiers went to Cyilen.[13] On September 1, 1998, at around 7 am, Yugoslav forces began the offensive against KLA positions.[13] Initially, the attack began in the village of Lez, where fierce fighting took place and Yugoslav forces were met with heavy resistance.[13] At a position called Livadhet te Lavdices, a grenade exploded in the trench at this position, resulting in the deaths of four KLA members.[13] Additionally, six KLA members were killed in the same position during the exchange of fire with the police.[13] 3 more KLA soldiers were killed. Those killed were identified as KLA soldiers Xhevat Berisha, Salajdin Berisha, Shefqet Berisha, Hasim Berisha, Nehat Berisha, Alajdin Berisha, Bekim Berisha, Shahadin Berisha, Naip Berisha, Samidin Emini, Ibrahim Osmani, Asllan Berisha, and Izair Berisha.[13]
The fighting soon spread throughout the territory of Vërrin.[13] The Yugoslav forces shelled the positions of the 2nd Battalion from a distance, while the Yugoslav infantry tried to enter the positions of the 1st Battalion.[13] Around 5 pm, Yugoslav forces broke through a KLA position and captured Lez.[13] In Lez, three policemen were wounded: Miroslav Rakonjac was wounded by automatic weapons around 2:00 p.m, while Miroljub Ristić was seriously wounded, and Nenad Aleksić was lightly wounded by soldiers using automatic weapons, hand-held launchers, and mortars around 4:20 p.m.[13]
During the same night, while KLA soldiers were observing the terrain between the villages of Kushnin and Arbëri, the soldiers Tamil Shala, Refki Shala and Milaim Thaçi were ambushed. Yugoslav forces began penetrating towards the territory which was under KLA control.[13] Kushnin, Arbëria, Lez, the headquarters of the 125th Brigade in Jeshkovo and the village itself, Hoça e Qytetit, Kushtrimi, Billushë, Poslisht as well as the KLA positions in Vërrin were shelled constantly by the Yugoslav forces. The shelling led to civilian casualties.[13]
The fighting continued on September 2, fierce fighting was concentrated in the village of Jeshkovo because of the Yugoslav goal of penetrating the headquarters of the 125th Brigade, which was located in Jeshkovo. During the afternoon of September 2, Agim Shala, Avdi Shala, Besim Shala, and Fatmir Berisha died.[13]
Heavy shelling continued at Kushtrim and Billushë, and Yugoslav forces tried to enter Dushkaja of Poslisht, then the positions of Tusus.[13] After some positions of the 1st Battalion were broken, the position at Tusus was in danger and the command of the 1st Battalion retreats to the village of Arbëri, while the 2nd Battalion remained at their positions.[13] Astret Poniku, and Arsim Poniku were killed. KLA forces held their positions against the Yugoslav forces, and Jeshkova was under KLA control.[13]
Battle of Paštrik
26–29 May: Initial KLA attack
The KLA offensive began at 04:00, the KLA attacked across a ten-mile front from their operating areas, they were supported by barrages from the Albanian army and NATO air support. The KLA quickly overran Yugoslav Observation Points and watchtowers.[15] Once past the border some units appear to have gone to the northern side of the mountain from which they could observarmored pee the city of Gjakova.[16] Other units went over the mountain or to the forests south of it. When Colonel Delić realized an offensive was underway, he order his troops to entrench and responded to the attack with howitzer and mortars. He ordered his artillery to target the avenues leading to the mountain.[17] These barrages compromised the KLA's offensive capabilities for the next two days. Despite extensive use of NATO air strikes, they did little to stop Yugoslav artillery from attacking KLA supply lines within Albania. As combat continued in the border settlements, KLA sources reported that they had overrun Planeja and were moving towards Gjonaj.[18]
1 June: Increased NATO air strikes
On 1 June NATO aircraft launched around 150 sorties on VJ targets. NATO claimed to have hit 32 artillery pieces, 9 personnel carriers, 6 armored vehicles, 4 other military vehicles, 8 mortar positions and one SA6 surface to air missile. NATO throughout the campaign kept the KLA at an arms length. The KLA offensive had reached a stalemate, and the Yugoslav army appeared to be organizing a counter offensive. NATO fearing Milošević would get a better position at the negotiating table if they recaptured the gains made by the KLA stepped up their bombing campaign. According to Diana Priest Wesley Clark told his officers "That mountain is not going to get lost. I'm not going to have Serbs on that mountain. We'll pay for that hill with American blood if we don't help [the KLA] hold it."[19] Some NATO air strikes hit KLA positions, however the KLA did not suffer any casualties from NATO friendly fire at that time. These air strikes gave the KLA opportunities to attack. The Yugoslav army responded to this by shelling settlements at the border with Albaniaincluding the settlements of Pergolaj, Golaj and Krumë. These strikes didn't hit any civilian targets, but increased the refugee flows in Kukës and put pressure on the administration.[20] Albania responded to this by mobilizing its army to the border and conducting a high-profile live fire exercise.[18]
Prizren Incident (1999)
Background
On 12 June 1999, two days after the approval of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Kosovo Force (KFOR) personnel began to arrive in Kosovo to stop further hostilities between ethnic Albanians and Serbs and to coordinate efforts to secure the distribution of humanitarian aid.[21]
Arrival of the German troops
In the early hours of 13 June about 100 German soldiers arrived in Prizren from Macedonia to secure the city for another 600 incoming troops that entered at afternoon from Albania, 10 miles (16 km) to the west. Earlier, a Yugoslav Armyoutpost at Vrbnica border crossing, recently vacated by 60 soldiers, was looted and vandalized.[22] The German soldiers were received as liberators by the ethnic Albanian inhabitants.[23] One of their first tasks was to separate a crowd of Albanian civilians and Yugoslav troops by forming a human line, after the former pelted a convoy of civilian Serbs leaving the city. There was a tense standoff, but eventually a German officer managed to convince the Serbs to withdraw.[22] At the Morinë border crossing, German troops compelled the Serbs to leave the outpost according to schedule when the latter tried to win more time.[24]
6–9 June: Stalemate
On 6 June, the Yugoslav army launched a counter offensive near Planeja. As the Yugoslav soldiers advanced towards Planeja, they were hit by 82 unguided M-82 iron bombs from two B52,s and a B-1B.[25] There are conflicting accounts about the casualties suffered by the Yugoslav troops. The Washington Post Foreign Service, which also caim that the strike involved the use of cluster munition, put the toll in "several hundreds".[26] According to some testimonies from KLA fighters, they suffered serious casualties but according to other KLA reports most were able to get into safety before the impact. A ground inspection by German KFOR troops following the end of hostilities found no wreckages of any Vehicles or tanks.[4][25] On June 7, bombing and ground fighting continued around Paštrik. On June 9, the Yugoslav army retreated and the Military Technical Agreement was signed for the withdrawal of all Yugoslav forces from Kosovo.[27]
As the German troops drove into downtown, along the Bistrica river, they were met by sniper fire from one of the surrounding hills and some houses; they were also allegedly fired at from a Roman Catholic church. The soldiers took cover and returned fire. A civilian woman was reportedly wounded by the snipers, while the German troops moved to defensive positions below the hill.[28] A German fighting vehicle fired a warning burst with a general-purpose Rheinmetall MG 3 machine gun at a passing Yugoslav army truck after a Yugoslav soldier inside brandished an AK-47 assault rifle at a jeering Albanian crowd and fired two shots in the air.[22]
At dusk, a yellow Zastava Skala civilian-type vehicle was seen approaching a German armored carrier outside Hotel Theranda, in the center of the city. The passenger produced an AK-47 and opened fire at the carrier and at bystanders, who fled for safety.[29] The German soldiers in the armored vehicle, supported by a Leopard 2 tank that mounted a roadblock,[30] shot back.[29] Three paratroopers fired at the car with their Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles, joined by a non-commissioned officer with his 9mm pistol and by turret-mounted 7.62mm machine guns.[31] The combined gunfire killed the driver instantly and critically wounded the shooter. A German soldier in the armored carrier was injured in the arm,[29][32] becoming the first casualty of the overall peacekeeping operation.[22] The Germans fired a total of 180 rifle rounds and 40 machine-gun rounds.[33] The German firepower was so intense that it pushed the car backward. The passenger eventually died of his wounds.[33][23][34][35][36][37] The shooting lasted 20 minutes.[38] The Germans said that the two individuals in the car, both Serbs, were carrying grenades and semi-automatic weapons.[28][39][40]
Platoon leader Lieutenant David Ferk, who gave the order to fire back, was awarded the Gold Cross of Honour for Outstanding Deeds by German Minister of Defense Rudolf Scharping.[33] The next day, KLA forces entered Prizren under guard of the German Kosovo Force.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "KLA takes control of Prizren". CBC.ca. 15 June 1999.
- ↑ "Yugoslav, NATO Generals Sign Peace Agreement for Kosovo / Alliance will end air campaign when Serbian troops pull out". Sfgate. 10 June 1999. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ↑ Union, Western European (1999). "Proceedings - Assembly of Western European Union: Actes Officiels - Assemblée de l'Union de l'Europe Occidentale".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Steele, Jonathan (17 July 1999). "Ghost village marks the battle that ended the war". The Guardian.
- ↑ "20 vjet nga Beteja e Jeshkovës". gazetaprizrenit.net. 11 March 2019.
- ↑ "20 vjet nga beteja e parë e UÇK-së në komunën e Prizrenit". gazetaprizrenit.net. 16 July 2018.
- ↑ "25 vite më parë, beteja për liri a vdekje në Vërri të Prizrenit". prizrenpress.com. 16 July 2023.
- ↑ Forage 2001, p. 61.
- ↑ "Jehona e operacionit "SHIGJETA" ne Pashtrik". epopeja.org.
- ↑ "Promocija knjige "Bitka za Paštrik – sećanja učesnika 1999" na Sajmu knjiga". Ministarstvo odbrane Republike Srbije. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ↑ Dana Priest (September 19, 1999). "Kosovo Land Threat May Have Won War". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ↑ "German troops met by snipers at Prizren". Toronto Star. Associated Press. 14 June 1999.
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 ramiberisha (2022-09-01). "ME 1 SHTATOR 1998 NUK FILLOI VITI I RI SHKOLLOR, POR FILLOI BETEJA E UÇK PËR LIRI A VDEKJE KUNDËR SERBISË, NË RAJONIN E VËRRINIT!". Prizreni Sot. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
- ↑ "NATO & Kosovo: Military Technical Agreement – 9 June 1999". www.nato.int. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
- ↑ Barry Came, 'At the Front With the KLA', Maclean's 112/23,7 June 1999, pp.44–7, writes that 1,000 insurgents struck out from Pogaj, overran six VJ positions on the border and advanced eastward toward Planeja until halted under Yugoslav artillery barrages. National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Sarah Chayes reported that the front was ten miles wide and that the 2,000 UCK fighters involved met little initial resistance: 'KLA Push', NPR All Things Considered, 28 May 1999.
- ↑ Williams, Daniel (29 May 1999). "Yugoslav Says Rebels Repulsed". The Washington Post.
- ↑ Jamie Shea and Maj. Gen. Walter Jertz, 'Press Conference', NATO HQ, 7 June 1999. Jertz: 'The artillery firing into Albania continues in the Mount Pastrik area and from positions near Junik, in fact just a little over along the Kosovo Albanian border, forcing Albanian people to leave their homes, another clear sign that Serb military forces do not bother about civilian casualties.'
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Forage 2001, p. 65.
- ↑ Priest, Dana (September 19, 1999). "Kosovo Land Threat May Have Won War". Washington Post.
- ↑ Forage 2001, p. 66.
- ↑ Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh, Dominik Zaum (2008). The United Nations Security Council and War : The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945. Oxford University Press, p. 591. ISBN 0191538582 Search this book on
.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 "Happy Throng Assails Lingering Serbs" by John Ward Anderson and Peter Finn. The Washington Post, 14 June 1999
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Fletcher, Martin (2008). Breaking News: A Memoir. Macmillan, pp. 201–202. ISBN 1429974869 Search this book on .
- ↑ Miller, Marjorie (17 June 1999). "German Force Savors 'Moral' Postwar Debut". Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Forage 2001, p. 67.
- ↑ Drozdiak, William (9 June 1999). "Yugoslav Troops Devastated by Attack". The Washington Post. p. 19.
- ↑ Forage 2001, p. 68.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 "German troops met by snipers at Prizren". Associated Press, 14 June 1999
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 NATO forces find possible mass grave in Kosovo Archived 2020-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. CNN, 14 June 1999
- ↑ "Kosovo: Schießerei am deutschen Kontrollpunkt" [Kosovo: shooting at German checkpoint]. SPIEGEL ONLINE (in Deutsch). 14 June 1999. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Russel, Richard Lawrence (2012). The Mammoth Book of Special Ops. Constable & Robinson, p. 109. ISBN 1780336985 Search this book on .
- ↑ Serbs shot dead as 'drunks' defy Nato, by Maggie O'Kane. The Guardian, 14 April 1999
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Koelbl, Susanne (7 February 2000). "BUNDESWEHR : "Der Kampf, das ist das Äußerste"". www.spiegel.de. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
- ↑ "Serbs killed in clashes with Nato peace force". The Independent. 1999-06-14. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
- ↑ Brocades Zaalberg, Thys (2006). Soldiers and Civil Power: Supporting Or Substituting Civil Authorities in Modern Peace Operations. Amsterdam University Press, p. 298. ISBN 9053567925 Search this book on .
- ↑ "Kosovo: Prizren: German NATO Troops kill Serb Snipers | AP Archive". www.aparchive.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
- ↑ Friesendorf, Cornelius (2018). How Western Soldiers Fight: Organizational Routines in Multinational Missions. Cambridge University Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-108-42910-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Flowers Turn to Bullets in Prizren: German Troops Kill Attacking Serb, by Philip Smuckler. The Washington Times, 14 June 2014
- ↑ KFOR Leopard 2A5 in Kosovo gunfight, retrieved 2022-10-01
- ↑ Bundeswehr In Aktion News!!! Video, retrieved 2022-10-01
Sources
- Forage, Paul C. (2001-12-01). "The battle for mount Pastrik: A preliminary study". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 14 (4): 57–80. doi:10.1080/13518040108430498. ISSN 1351-8046. Unknown parameter
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