Albanian–Yugoslav border conflict (1998–1999)

The Albanian–Yugoslav border conflict was a one-year undeclared military confrontation between Albania and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The conflict primarily involved cross-border clashes and incursions, as Yugoslav forces pursued Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters operating near the Albanian-Yugoslav border. The most significant engagement occurred in April 1999 near Krumë, Albania, resulting in a tense standoff between Yugoslav and Albanian forces.

In 1996, a group of Albanian nationalists called the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking the Yugoslav Army and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of Yugoslavia, which had turned into a rump federation after the multiple separatist movements during the Yugoslav wars and now only consisted of Serbia and Montenegro. Initially, the KLA only carried out hit-and-run attacks (31 in 1996, 55 in 1997, and 66 in January and February 1998 alone)^[6] however it quickly gained popularity among young Kosovar Albanians, many of whom were against the non-violent resistance to the Yugoslav authorities advocated by politician Ibrahim Rugova and preferred a more aggressive approach.^[7] The organization would receive a significant boost in 1997, when an armed uprising occurred in neighbouring Albania which led to thousands of weapons from the depots of the Albanian Army being looted. Many of these weapons would end up in the hands of the KLA.^[8] Cross-border arms smuggling peaked; the unit charged with securing the Yugoslav border was the 549th Motorized Prizren Brigade, commanded by General Božidar Delić.^[9]

The KLA's popularity received a massive boost after the VJ and MUP attacked the compound of KLA leader Adem Jashari in Prekaz, in March 1998, killing him, his closest associates and most of his family. The attack motivated thousands of young Kosovar Albanians to join the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.^[10]

On 23 April 1998, at 5:45, the 53rd border Battalion encountered a group of 150-200 KLA insurgents near the Košare border post, Deçan, who were attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania.^[11] 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.^[12][13] 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.^[14] On the other hand, the Yugoslav forces suffered no reported casualties, despite being outnumbered.^[15][16][13]

The next day after the ambush, the residents of the village of Botushë reported artillery fire and helicopters flying ahead.^[12]

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 trying 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,^[17] the political scientist David L. Phillips and diplomat Nicholas Burns state that there were 22 mujahideen and 300 KLA fighters,^[18] Tim Judah, a journalist specializing in the Balkans, believes that the group may have been made up of as many as 700 militants,^[19] and the VJ stated that there were up to 1000 militants.^[20] 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.^[21] A large stash of guns dropped by the KLA during their retreat would be seized by Yugoslav forces.^[22]

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.^[20]

On 7 July 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.^[23]

On 9 August 1998, the KLA's 138th brigade 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.^[24][25][26]

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.^[24][25][26]

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 as well 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.^{[27][28][29][30]}

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.^[31][32][33]

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.^{[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]}

On 9 April 1999, at 03:00, an artillery barrage by the KLA began from the Albanian side of the border, aimed in the direction of the Košare military outpost, which was occupied by the Yugoslav Army, leading to the start of the Battle of Košare, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.^[41] The Albanians then attacked the Yugoslabs in three directions, towards Rrasa e Koshares, the well-defended Košare outpost and towards Maja Glava. Approximately 136 KLA soldiers^[42] crossed the border and attacked Yugoslav positions. At that time less than 200 members of the Yugoslav Army were stationed at the front line. The heavy fighting ensued and lasted the whole day with 4 dead and 1 wounded on the Albanian side and 23 dead on the Yugoslav side.^[43] Eventually, the KLA seized the peak of Rrasa e Koshares and immediately began entrenching themselves. Serbian reports claimed that the KLA insurgents had received assistance from British, French, German and Italian special forces.^[44]

The battle continued until the next morning on 10 April. With artillery support, the KLA captured Maja Glava and continued to bombard the Košare Outpost, which resulted in the Yugoslav soldiers having to withdraw from their posts.^[45] 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 entering the outpost.

Members of the Yugoslav Forces would then retreat towards the second line of defense above the outpost, with the positions being easier to defend. On the 11th, Yugoslav reserve troops arrived to help the First Army. One group of KLA soldiers managed to cut the Yugoslav communication line and managed to destroy one BOV armoured personnel carrier. During the night, the KLA attacked the Yugoslav Army at Opljaz, with an attempt to shatter the resistance of the Yugoslav soldiers, but all of their attacks were unsuccessful and resulted in the Yugoslav Army inflicting heavy losses on the KLA insurgents. Meanwhile, the Yugoslavs managed to bring in reinforcements, including Special Forces and also a few artillery pieces.

The Albanian Army and KLA artillery, stationed at Maja Glava and Rrasa e Koshares continued to shell the Yugoslav positions. The Yugoslav Army Headquarters decided to launch a sudden surprise attack on the enemy. On 14 April, Yugoslav troops attacked Maja Glava. The distance between the two enemy trenches was not longer than 50 meters. The Yugoslav Army was unable to fully take Maja Glava completely, but they prevented the Albanian artillery from engaging them from their positions. The fighting in Maja Glava was stabilized until the end of the war, without any changes on the lines. Both sides suffered heavy casualties

During the day, Hisen Berisha reached the Košare outpost to meet with other KLA fighters. At dusk, the KLA fighters split into two groups before opening fire on the direction of Yugoslav forces, in an attempt to draw fire from them and to identify their positions. Fierce fighting continued until the morning, with the KLA claiming to have killed 47 Yugoslav soldiers, while losing 7 of their own.^[46][47]

The month of May saw several unsuccessful attacks by the Yugoslav Army to take back the Košare outpost. The attacks were made unsuccessful due to constant artillery fire hitting their positions. On 6 May, the Yugoslav Army led a counterattack at Rrasa e Koshares, in an effort to halt the Albanian artillery bombardment. A bloody skirmish ensued, with the Yugoslav Army not managing to take Rrasa e Koshares. On 10 May, the Yugoslav Army sent two T-55 tanks to help aid the offensive. When the tanks penetrated the KLA's lines, they advanced over 100 meters into insurgent-held territory, but the KLA managed to retain control of the peak. During the night of 10/11 May, NATO bombers dropped dozens of bombs on Yugoslav troops which had attacked KLA positions around Rrasa e Koshares. At least in two of these instances NATO dropped cluster bombs on Yugoslav troops. In these attacks, NATO killed 8 Yugoslav soldiers and 1 officer and managed to wound over 40. The KLA used the opportunity to attack the Yugoslav soldiers and push them out of their positions and forced them back.

On 19 or 20 May, the KLA attacked a Yugoslav Special Forces position near Junik. The KLA claimed to have killed 14 Yugoslav Special Force members after heavy fighting, whilst suffering no losses. One of the killed was a Russian citizen, Bulakh Vitaly Glebovich. Documents retrieved from Glebovich's body showed he was an officer of the Russian Army. The KLA presented this as evidence of Russian involvement in the war and sent letter protesting to the Russian embassy in Tirana, demanding 5,000 firearms with ammunition as ransom for the retrieval of the corpse.^[48][49] Yugoslavia reported Glebovich was killed while fighting as a volunteer.^[50][51]

On 22 May, NATO aircraft accidentally bombed KLA positions.^[52] Some KLA commanders would later claim that this was an intentional attack to stop the KLA from making further gains.^[53] According to the KLA, 7 of their fighters were killed and 27 wounded.^[52] After the war, PBS stated that 67 people were reported as having died in the bombing.^[54]

During the month of April 1999 Yugoslav infantry would enter Albania, shelling villages near Krumës,Tropojë and Kukës. The Yugoslav forces pushed 2 km 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.

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.

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

On 26 May, at 4 am an offensive started in mount Pashtrik, when the KLA troops attacked across a 10 mile front from their operating areas, supported by artillery and aerial barrages from the Albanian army and NATO air support. They quickly overran several Yugoslav observation points and watchtowers.^[56][57] After they were past the border, some KLA units appeared to have went to the northern side of the Pashtrik mountain from which they could observe armored Yugoslav units in Gjakova.^[58] Other units went over the mountain or to the forests south of it. Upon realizing an offensive was underway, Colonel Delić ordered his troops to entrench themselves and responded to the attack with howitzer and mortars and also ordered his artillery to attack the avenues leading to the mountain.^[59] These artillery barrages compromised the KLA's offensive capabilities for the next two days. Despite extensive use of NATO air strikes, little was done to stop Yugoslav artillery from shelling KLA supply lines within Albania. As fighting continued in several border villages, KLA sources reported that they had captured Planeja and were moving towards Gjonaj.^[60]

On June 1st, NATO aircraft launched around 150 sorties on VJ targets. NATO claimed to having hit and destroyed 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 offensive kept the KLA at an arms length. The offensive had reached a stalemate, and the Yugoslav army appeared to be planning a counter offensive. NATO fearing Milošević would get a higher position at the negotiating table if they were to recapture the gains made by the KLA stepped up their bombing campaign. According to Dana 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.^[61]

Some NATO air strikes also hit KLA positions, however the KLA did not suffer any casualties from the friendly fire at that time. The air strikes gave the KLA opportunities to attack, leading to the Yugoslav army responding to this by shelling settlements at the border with Albania including the villages of Krumë, Pergolaj and Golaj. These strikes did not hit any civilians, but increased the refugee flow in Kukës and put pressure on the administration.^[62] Albania responded to this by mobilizing its army near the border and conducting a high-profile live fire exercise.^[60]

On 6 June, the Yugoslav Army launched a counterattack near the village of Planeja. As the Yugoslav soldiers advanced towards Planeja, they were hit by 82 unguided Mark 82 bombs from two NATO B-52s and a B-1B.^[63] Accounts on the casualties suffered by the Yugoslav side vary. The Washington Post Foreign Service, which also stated that the strike involved the use of cluster munition, put the death toll in "several hundreds".^[64] According to several testimonies from KLA fighters, the Yugoslav forces suffered serious casualties but other KLA reports state that most were able to get into safety before the impact. A ground inspection by the German KFOR troops which happened after the end of hostilities found no wreckages of any vehicles or tanks.^[65][63] On June 7, bombing and fighting continued around Pashtrik. On the 9th of June, the Yugoslav army retreated and an agreement was signed for the withdrawal of all Yugoslav forces from Kosovo.^[66]

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, by March 1999 (prior to NATO bombing), more than 200,000 Albanian civilians were displaced, almost 70,000 Albanians had fled the province to neighboring countries and Montenegro, and a further 100,000 Kosovar Albanians had sought asylum in Western Europe.^[67] Within the three first weeks of the NATO bombing during the Kosovo War, there were 525,787 refugees from Kosovo in neighboring countries,^[68] while a month later, on 12 May, 781,618.^[69] By June the Yugoslav forces had expelled 862,979 Albanians from Kosovo however the claim was heavily disputed by many Serbian politicians.^[70][65] and several hundred thousand more were internally displaced, in addition to those displaced prior to March.^[71] Approximately 440,000 refugees crossed the border to Albania^[71]

The war would end with the Kumanovo Agreement on 6 June 1999. As a part of the agreement, the Kosovar refugees in Albania returned to Kosovo.^[72]

• 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. S2CID 143238207.