Anadrina offensive

Anadrina offensive
Part of the Kosovo War
Date 12 – 14 May 1998 Location Ratkoc, Gradiš Hill and Anadrina, AP Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo) Result KLA victory
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army	FR Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Bedri Shala	unknown
Units involved
Kosovo Liberation Army 3rd Operational Zone "Pëllumbi" unit "Lumi" unit 2nd Operational Zone Drenoc General Headquarters	Yugoslav army Serbian police
Strength
Dozens of soldiers Several cars	Hundreds of soldiers Large amounts of tanks and pinzgauers Several helicopters (KLA claim)
Casualties and losses
3 killed 3 injured 1 car damaged	Many killed Many armored vehicles and tanks damaged
3 ethnic-Albanian civilians killed

The Anadrina offensive also known as the Battle of Anadrina or the Battle of Gradiš was fought between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) during the early stages of the Kosovo War. The fighting occurred during 12-14 May 1998, over 2 months since the start of all-out fighting in Kosovo.

Background

Throughout the early phases of the Kosovo War, the KLA militants had smuggled many weapons from Albania on multiple occasions. One of the villages in which weapons were smuggled to and later distributed from was the village of Drenoc. Drenoc was captured by the KLA on 26 April 1998 as a result of the successful 1st Battles of Drenoc after a short clash, leading to escalations of tensions in the Anadrinë region, a region near Rahovec which consisted of 22 villages. One of the villages was Ratkoc, which was mostly inhabited by ethnic Serbs. According to the KLA, the Serbian population of the village was on "good-terms" with them despite the fighting in the surrounding villages and there being a Serbian police station in the village. On 11 may the Serbian police attacked Drenoc, aiming to capture the village, however the KLA repelled their attack as a result of the 2nd Battle of Drenoc. Due to this, the Serbian population of Ratkoc allowed the Serbian police to position themselves within civilian houses in the village.

Fighting

On 12 May 1998, Serbian police stationed in the police station and houses of Ratkoc fired upon a KLA vehicle, ambushing them leading to heavy fighting breaking out. The same day large amounts of Yugoslav troops, tanks and pinzgauers attacked KLA positions in Gradish hill. According to the KLA, the Yugoslav forces also utilized several helicopters in the attack. The KLA held their positions on the hill as fighting broke-out in the nearby villages on 13 May. The KLA were able to surround the Yugoslav forces in Malësia e Vogël and were also able to capture the village and police station of Ratkoc, leading to the Yugoslav forces reinforcing their positions. With the "newly-arrived" reinforcements the Yugoslav troops would attack the KLA positions on Gradish Hill from behind, leading to the KLA calling reinforcements from the "Lumi" unit from Malisheva and the "Pëllumbi" unit from Klina; both from the 3rd Operational Zone. With help from the reinforcements the KLA were able to brake the encirclement with the Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Anadrinë. During the withdrawal the Yugoslav troops killed 3 male Albanian civilians who refused to leave the village of Bratani. The KLA would go on to loose 3 militants in the battle and another 3 would be injured, however the Yugoslav casualties would be greater, including damages on tanks and armored vehicles.