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Albanian-Yugoslav border conflict (1998-1999)
Part of the Kosovo War and Yugoslav Wars
Date 1998-1999 Location Albania and AP Kosovo,FR Yugoslavia Result Initial Yugoslav victory Many KLA attempts of weapon smuggling from Albania are stopped by Yugoslav forces. Eventual Albanian and KLA victory Yugoslav forces reatreat from Albania. Kumanovo agreement
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army 1999: Albania Support: Mujahedeen NATO	Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Agim Ramadani † Sali Çekaj † Mujë Krasniqi † Agim Çeku Rrustem Berisha 1999: Kudusi Lama Alija Rabić † Wesley Clark	Božidar Delić Nebojša Pavković Vladimir Lazarević Dragan Živanović
Units involved
138th Brigade 121st Brigade 123rd Brigade 1999: Kukës division	Priština Corps Units 549th Motorized Brigade 53rd Border Batallion 72nd Brigade for Special Operations 2nd Battalion of the 125th Motorized Brigade 63rd Parachute Brigade Russian volunteers Ukrainian volunteers
Strength
Thousands Entire Kukës Division Tanks and artillery 22-24 fighters Units of B-52,A-10 and Lockheed AC-130 aircrafts.	Thousands Tanks and armored vehicles
Casualties and losses
202-205 killed (7 killed from NATO friendly fire) 1 wounded 18 killed None	215 killed 1 killed Per NATO: 32 artillery pieces, 9 armored personnel carriers, 6 armored vehicles, 4 other military vehicles, 8 mortar positions and one SA6 surface to air missile.

Events

During the Insurgency in Kosovo the KLA used the Albanian-Yugoslav border for regular weapon smuggling. These activities continued during the Kosovo War. In the Battle of Baballoq alone, the KLA led 10 trips to the Albanian-Yugoslav border to smuggle weapons, resupplying the KLA's forces. Due to these activities, the Yugoslav army reinforced their forces on the border with Albania. A key component of the Yugoslav forces on the border with Albania was the 53rd Border Battalion led by Božidar Delić.

April 23, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush

On 23 April 1998, at 5:45, the 53rd border Battalion incountered a group of 150-200 KLA insurgents near the Košare border post, Deçan, who were attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania. Armed with howitzers and rocket launchers, the Yugoslav army ambushed the militants, leading to a fierce clash breaking out, with the fighting lasting the whole night. After the fighting, 19 militants were killed, 1 was injured and 2 were captured. The remaining militants escaped the ambush and fled back to Albania. On the other hand the Yugoslav forces suffered no reported casualties, despite being outnumbered.

The next day after the ambush, the residents of the village of Botushë reported artillery fire and helicopters flying ahead.

July 18, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes

On 18 July 1998, a group of KLA insurgents together with a small group of mujahedeen (most of which were civilians from Saudi Arabia) crossed the border between Albania and Yugoslavia before being ambushed by the 53rd border battalion. The insurgents were smuggling weapons to Kosovo, some claims suggest that they were tryig to reinforce their forces in Orahovac. Estimates on the number of KLA fighters vary, Human Rights Watch claimed that there were around 200 KLA insurgents together with 24 mujahedeen, the political scientist David L. Phillips and diplomat Nicholas Burns state that there were 22 mujahideen and 300 KLA fighters, Tim Judah, a journalist specializing in the Balkans, believes that the group may have been made up of as many as 700 militants, and the VJ stated that there were up to 1000 militants. In the ensuing fight 4 KLA fighters would be killed together with 18 mujahedeen, while the other militants would escape. 1 Yugoslav soldier was heavily wounded and another was lightly wounded. A large stash of guns dropped by the KLA during their retreat would be siezed by Yugoslav forces.

Albanian-Yugoslav border shelling

The next day on 19 July 1998, the Yugoslav forces shelled KLA insurgents near the Albanian border. Initial reports claimed that 30 KLA militants were killed, however later reports revealed that there were no deaths, however 31 KLA militants were injured.

Battle of Morina

On 7 August 1998, the Yugoslav forces entered the village of Morina, the nearest village to the Albanian border. There they were attacked by a group of KLA militants. In the ensuing battle 6 KLA militants would be killed, however the Yugoslav casualties would be greater, with many soldiers being killed, leading to the Yugoslav army retreating from Morina.

Battle of Opljaz

On 9 August 1998, the KLA's 138th birgade commanded by Agim Ramadani led an operation in the village of Oplazë (romanized: "Opljaz") on the Albanian-Yugoslav border. The operation was a KLA success with 17-20 Yugoslav soldiers being killed, including 2 Yugoslav army officers. The KLA reported no casualties.

Operation in Gjeravica

On 15 September 1998 the 138th brigade led by Agim Ramadani led another operation on the Albanian-Yugoslav border. The operation was carried out in areas in and near Mt.Gjeravica where the KLA killed 40 Yugoslav soldiers and injured another 20.

Operation Fenix

On 30 September 1998, the KLA's 138th brigade led by Agim Ramadani, composed of 30 soldiers, carried out an operation near the Albanian-Yugoslav border codenamed "Operation Fenix". The militants laid anti-tank mines on the ground, leading to a Yugoslav tank running one over. The mine exploded, leading to 1 soldier being killed and 4 being injured. The Yugoslav army quickly brought in a helicopter to rescue the injured troops, however it was fired upon by the militants. Shortly after, another ambush was carried near the Košare outpost, where the KLA fired upon Yugoslav armored vehicles, killing 5 soldiers and wounding 2 aswell as destroying a Yugoslav BOV and damaging a Yugoslav Pinzgauer. The KLA then robbed the dead corpses. Another helicopter came down to the "ambush-scene" but was instantly fired upon and retreated.

December 3, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border clash

On the 3rd of December 1998, a Yugoslav border guard was fired upon by a group of 9 KLA insurgents. In the returning fire, the Yugoslav forces killed 8 of the militants, while the 9th escaped. This was the most serious war incident in the Kosovo War since a truce had been negotiated a month and a half earlier.

December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush

In the morning of 14 December 1998, a group of 140 armed KLA militants led by Mujë Krasniqi were attempting to smuggle weapons into [[Kosovo through Albania, however they were ambushed between Goroždup and Liken, in Kušnin. The militants were returning from a military training base in North Albania. After the initial ambush the battle would last the whole night. By the end of the battle 36 militants would be killed, 12 would be wounded and another 9 would be captured. According to Albanian sources 41 militants would be killed. One of the killed on the KLA-side was general Mujë Krasniqi. The Yugoslav forces suffered no casualties.

Battle of Košare

On 9 April 1999, at 03:00, an artillery barrage began from the Albanian side of the border, aimed in the direction of the Košare military outpost, which was occupied by the Yugoslav Army, in what became one of the bloodiest battles of the Kosovo War. The Albanians attacked in three directions, the first was towards Rrasa e Koshares, the second was towards the well-defended Košare outpost and the third was towards Maja Glava. Approximately 136 KLA soldiers reached the border and attacked Yugoslav positions. At that time less than 200 members of the Yugoslav Army were stationed at the front line. Bloody fighting ensued and lasted the whole day with 4 dead and one wounded on the Albanian side and 23 dead on the Yugoslav side. Later, the KLA seized the peak of Rrasa e Koshares and immediately began entrenching themselves. Serbian reports claimed that the KLA insurgents were assisted by British, French, German and Italian special forces.

The battle continued until the next morning. Then, with artillery support, the KLA took Maja Glava and continued to bombard the Košare Outpost, which resulted in the Yugoslav soldiers having to abandon their posts. At 19:00, members of the KLA entered the abandoned outpost and CNN and the British BBC broadcast images of a great number of KLA militants taking the outpost.

Members of the Yugoslav Forces then retreated towards the second line of defense above the outpost. Those positions were easier to defend. The next day, Yugoslav reserve troops arrived to relieve the First Army. One batch of KLA soldiers managed to cut the Yugoslav line of communications, and managed to destroy one BOV armoured personnel carrier. During the night, the KLA attacked the Yugoslav Army at Opijaz, trying to shatter the resistance of the Yugoslav soldiers, but all of the attacks were unsuccessful and resulted in the Yugoslav Army inflicting heavy losses on the KLA insurgents. Meanwhile, the Yugoslavs managed to bring in their Special Forces and also a few artillery pieces.

On 13 April, the Yugoslav and Albanian armies clashed at the border near Krumë.

14 April: Yugoslav counter-offensive on Maja Glava

Albanian Army and KLA artillery continued to shell the Yugoslav Army's positions from Maja Glava and Rrasa e Koshares. The Yugoslav Army Headquarters decided to launch a sudden attack and surprise the enemy. On 14 April, Yugoslav troops attacked Maja Glava. The distance between the two enemy trenches wasn't longer than 50 meters. The Yugoslav Army was unable to take Maja Glava completely, but it prevented the Albanians' artillery from engaging them from their positions. The Maja Glava front was stabilized until the end of the war, without any changes on the lines.

In April, there weren't any changes on the front lines at Rrasa e Koshares and both sides suffered heavy losses.

26-27 April: KLA attack on Rrasa e Koshares

During the day, Hisen Berisha drove to the Košare outpost, to meet with KLA fighters. At dusk, the KLA fighters split into two groups. KLA fighters opened fire on the direction of Yugoslav forces, in an attempt to draw fire from Yugoslav forces and identifying their positions. Fierce fighting continued until the morning, with the KLA claiming to have killed 47 Yugoslav soldiers, while seven were dead on the Albanian side.

10–11 May: Yugoslav offensive on Rrasa e Koshares

May began with several unsuccessful attacks by the Yugoslav Army to take back the Košare outpost. The attacks were made unsuccessful because of the constant artillery fire aimed at their positions. On 6 May, the Yugoslav Army counterattacked at Rrasa e Koshares, in an effort to halt the artillery bombardment. A bloody skirmish ensued, but the Yugoslav Army did not manage to take Rrasa e Koshares. On 10 May, the Yugoslav Army sent two T-55 tanks to help stabilize the offensive on Rrasa e Koshares. When the tanks penetrated the KLA's lines, they advanced over 100 meters into insurgent-held territory, but the KLA still managed to retain control of Rrasa e Koshares. During the night of 10/11 May, NATO bombers dropped dozens of bombs on the Yugoslav troops who had attacked KLA positions around Rrasa e Koshares. At least in two of these instances NATO dropped cluster bombs on Yugoslav army troops. In these attacks, NATO killed eight Yugoslav soldiers and one officer and managed to wound over 40. The KLA seized the opportunity to attack and fought the Yugoslav soldiers out of their positions and forced them back.

19–20 May: KLA attack near Junik

On 19 or 20 May, the KLA attacked a Yugoslav Special Forces' position near Junik. The KLA claimed to have managed to kill 14 Yugoslav Special Forces members after bitter fighting, whilst they suffered no losses. One of the killed was Russian citizen Bulakh Vitaly Glebovich. Documents retrieved from Glebovich's body showed he was an officer within the Russian Army, while Moscow confirmed that there was an officer by the same name who had been discharged from the Russian Army due to medical conditions with the name that the KLA had provided. The KLA presented this as evidence of Russian involvement in the war and sent a strong letter of protest to the Russian embassy in Tirana, demanding 5,000 firearms with ammunition as ransom for the retrieval of the body. Yugoslavia reported Glebovich was killed while fighting as a volunteer.

NATO friendly fire on Košare Outpost

On 22 May, NATO aircraft mistakenly bombed KLA positions. Some KLA commanders would later say that this was intentional to stop the KLA from making further gains. According to the KLA, seven of their fighters were killed and 27 wounded in the strike. After the war, PBS said that 67 people were reported as having died in the raid.

Albanian-Yugoslav border incident

During the month of April 1999 Yugoslav infantry would enter Albania, shelling villages near Krumës,Tropojë and Kukës. The Yugoslav forces pushed 2km into Northern Albania due to them facing no resistance, however the Yugoslav government denied these claims. The main goal in this operation was to blockade KLA forces.

Shelling on Krumës

On 13 April 1999, the Yugoslav army led by Dragan Živanović shelled Albanian refugees in Krumës, however the shelling failed to cause any casualties, only destroying 3 houses. When the Kukës division arrived led by Kudusi Lama together with a number of KLA militants, the Yugoslav forces withdrew.

Yugoslav withdrawal from Tropoja and Kukës

With the arrival of the Kukës division, the Yugoslav troops also withdrew from the areas near Tropojë and Krumës, and eventually from the 2km of land that they had pushed into. After the incident Albania broke all ties with Yugoslavia.

References

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