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Battle of Podujevo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Podujevo
Part of the Kosovo War
Date23–27 December 1998
Location
Podujevo, Kosovo, Yugoslavia
42°54′38″N 21°11′35″E / 42.91056°N 21.19306°E / 42.91056; 21.19306
Result

Yugoslav victory[1]

Belligerents
FR Yugoslavia[2] Kosovo Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Serbia and Montenegro Sreten Lukić
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlastimir Đorđević
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Janko Lazarević		 Kadri Kastrati
Units involved

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Army

 Shala Operational Zone
Strength
Serbia and Montenegro 250 policemen
Serbia and Montenegro 13+ armored vehicles[3]
Serbia and Montenegro T-55 and M-84 tanks[citation needed]		 25 militants[3]
Casualties and losses
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1 killed
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 6 wounded[4]
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2 APC's destroyed[5]		 10 killed[6]

The Battle of Podujevo (Albanian: Beteja e Tabeve te Llapashticës; Serbian: Битка код Подујева, Bitka kod Podujeva) was fought in the Kosovo War between the Yugoslav Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and KLA insurgents in the village of Llapashtica e Epërme in the municipality of Podujevo. These events started after the death of a policeman who was killed by KLA militants in the area.[7]

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.[8] After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader (Josip Broz Tito) in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel.[9] In 1989, Belgrade revoked Kosovo's autonomy.[10] Kosovo, a province inhabited predominantly by ethnic Albanians, was of great historical and cultural significance to Serbs,[11] who had formed a majority there before the mid-19th century, but by 1990 represented only about 10 percent of the population.[12] Alarmed by their dwindling numbers, the province's Serbs began to fear that they were being "squeezed out" by the Albanians, and ethnic tensions worsened.[13] As soon as Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Serbian President Slobodan 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.[10]

In 1996, a 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, was just a rump federation consisting 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).[14] It quickly gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom rejected the non-violent resistance to Yugoslav authorities advocated by the politician Ibrahim Rugova and favoured a more aggressive approach.[15] 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.[16] The KLA also received substantial funds from its involvement in the drug trade.[17][18]

The KLA'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 family. The attack prompted thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the ranks of the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.[19]

Podujevo is a city in northeast Kosovo. Located in the geographical region of Llap, it is the largest municipality of Kosovo. It is situated to the north of Priština, east of Kosovska Mitrovica, and near the border of Serbia. In 1996, the municipality was the site of two ambushes conducted by the Kosovo Liberation Army against Yugoslav authorities, occurring on 16 June and 25 October.[20][21] Since the beginning of the Kosovo War in 1998, the region of Podujevo remained largely unaffected until early-mid September, as reports emerged of KLA activity in the region. After a series of offensives launched by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1199 was adopted, calling for a ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. The ceasefire collapsed by December, as hostilities resumed between the Yugoslav forces and the KLA. Tensions escalated on 21 December, after a policeman was shot and killed in the city by unknown gunmen.[22] The Yugoslav Army responded by patrolling around the area with a convoy.[22]

Battle

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The battle occurred between 23–27 December 1998. Yugoslav forces had the goal of destroying the ZOLL (Operative Zone of Llap) headquarters of the KLA.[6] Before reaching the village of the ZOLL headquarters, the Yugoslav forces were met with strong resistance of the KLA at Tabe.[6] On 25 December, KLA fighters ambushed a police car in the village of Zakut in the Podujevo municipality and in the city centre, explosives were hurled at the homes of local policemen.[23] Fighting in Podujevo continued until 27 December, when Yugoslav Army (VJ) forces secured the town following the withdrawal of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).[24] On the same day, Yugoslav police attempted to capture Llapashtica, but were ambushed by KLA fighters en route.[5] The KLA reportedly used 120-millimeter mortars, destroying two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and wounding three officers.[5] Although Yugoslav police repelled the ambush, the KLA held their positions in the village.[5] Diplomats indicated that the KLA in Llapashtica was also open to negotiations.[5] According to international monitors who contributed to Operation Eagle Eye, this battle shattered a ceasefire called on by foreign forces. At the conclusion of the fighting, the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission monitored a convoy of Yugoslav Army vehicles.[25]

References

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  1. ↑ O'Connor, Mike (28 December 1998). "Rebels Attack Serb Police Post in Kosovo". New York Times. While the police fought ethnic-Albanian rebels along the road, other police units tried to enter rebel-controlled territory nearby and were caught in ambushes that left two armored personnel carriers destroyed and three officers wounded, Government officials said. The officials said rebels used a 120-millimeter mortar in the ambushes. Diplomats said the rebels conceded that the report about the size of the mortar was true, which means the rebels have much larger weapons than had been known. Smaller mortars were used in the combat on the main road, though it was unclear which side was using them. Heavy machine-gun fire poured from police units that commandeered a motel near the road. The police appeared to push back the attackers after about a half-hour.
  2. ↑ "Army Backers Of Milosevic On Kosovo Are Promoted". The New York Times. 27 December 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Serbia: Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission Daily Report; 22 Dec. | ReliefWeb". Reliefweb.int. 22 December 1998. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Kosovo Reported Quiet After 4 Days of Clashes". The New York Times. 29 December 1998.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Connor, Mike (28 December 1998). "Rebels Attack Serb Police Post in Kosovo". New York Times. While the police fought ethnic-Albanian rebels along the road, other police units tried to enter rebel-controlled territory nearby and were caught in ambushes that left two armored personnel carriers destroyed and three officers wounded, Government officials said. The officials said rebels used a 120-millimeter mortar in the ambushes. Diplomats said the rebels conceded that the report about the size of the mortar was true, which means the rebels have much larger weapons than had been known. Smaller mortars were used in the combat on the main road, though it was unclear which side was using them. Heavy machine-gun fire poured from police units that commandeered a motel near the road. The police appeared to push back the attackers after about a half-hour. Diplomats said the rebels were in a mood to negotiate but remained in their positions.
  6. 1 2 3 "22 vjet nga beteja e Tabeve të Llapashticës, betejë në të cilën ranë heroikisht 10 dëshmorë të Llapit". Llapi Info. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Europe: Serb policeman killed in Kosovo". BBC News. 21 December 1998. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Judah 2002, p. 34.
  9. ↑ Judah 2002, pp. 38–39.
  10. 1 2 LeBor 2002, p. 276.
  11. ↑ Miranda Vickers (1999). The Albanians: A Modern History. New York: I.B.Tauris. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
  12. ↑ James Summers (2011). "Kosovo: From Yugoslav Province to Disputed Independence". In James Summers (ed.). Kosovo: A Precedent?. Leiden, Netherlands: BRILL. p. 5. ISBN 978-90-474-2943-2.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Judah 2002, p. 137.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Judah 2002, pp. 127–130.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Judah 2002, pp. 138–141.
  20. ↑ "1996". opinionleaders.htmlplanet.com. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "Chronology of the KLA's Terrorism: April 1996 - February 1998". balkania.tripod.com. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  22. 1 2 "World: Europe Serb policeman killed in Kosovo". 21 December 1998.
  23. ↑ Repression and Violence in Kosovo, March 18, 1998; Kosovo, the Humanitarian Perspective, June 25, 1998: Two Hearings Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session, Volume 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1998. p. 42. ISBN 9780160576287.
  24. ↑ "Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission Daily Report; 28 Dec. - Serbia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 28 December 1998. Retrieved 28 September 2024. In an increasingly familiar on-again, off-again pattern, the cease-fire held today as the two sides returned to apparent compliance with the OSCE Verification Agreement. Podujevo was again the focus: KLA forces reportedly withdrew a significant distance from yesterday's contested positions, and police and VJ units displayed limited disengagement there. No attack or fighting by either party was reported in the area today. The Serbian side again voiced their commitment to abide by the Agreement.
  25. ↑ "Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission Daily Report; 28 Dec". reliefweb. 28 December 1998. Retrieved 15 June 2022.

Sources

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