Attack near Žujince

The Attack near Žujince was a coordinated attack on Bulgarian forces by the Balli Kombëtar on 27 October 1944 during the Karadak-Gollak Insurgency.

Bulgaria declared war on Germany on September 8 after a coup in Bulgaria. In October, following the Niš operation, the First and Second Bulgarian Armies attacked the German and Albanian forces in Kosovo from the North, capturing cities in the Anamorava region and advancing into Kosovo.^[2] On October 15, 1944, in the village of Prapashticë, Bulgarian forces trying to move towards Pristina were defeated by Albanian Ballist troops led by officers such as Isak Domi, Mulla Idriz Gjilani, Shefqet Bullykbashi, Mulla Sefë Govori, Nazmi Budrika and other leaders from the villages of Gollak, who knew the terrain well.^[3] On October 18, 1944, Bulgarians again attacked, the Albanian Ballists, now reinforced, mounted a strong resistance against two regiments of the Bulgarian army. After three days of fighting, the Bulgarian forces were defeated by the Albanian troops.^[3] The battle resulted in the Bulgarians losing 600 soldiers in battle, while around 60 Albanian Ballists were killed, The Bulgarian army also lost a significant amount of weaponry, including 12 cannons, a machine gun, a mortar, hundreds of rifles, and around 60 draft animals.^[3] The Albanian forces also captured several artillery pieces and animals used to transport ammunition.^[3] From October 24 to 30, 1944, Albanians from Karadak especially Tanuševci, under the command of Tefik Tanisheci, advanced toward villages in the Skopska Crna Gora where numerous partisan brigades had gathered, including local partisans with reinforcements from Vranje, Preševo, Bujanovac, and Anamorava.^[4] They launched a successful offensive across open terrain, moving from Guri i Zi through Brodec and Kučevište, toward Bajašnica, reaching as far as the Banjane and Gornjane.^[4] Before the attack, on October 25, Bulgarian forces captured the villages of Tabanovce, Staro Nagoričane, and Novo Nagoričane. Between October 26 and 27, they advanced toward Žujince, Moravica, and Bukarevac, seizing these villages with little resistance from the Albanian forces.^[1]

After the village of Žujince fell under Bulgarian control, the Ballist forces, led by Ibrahim Kelmendi had launched an attack on Bulgarian forces stationed near Žujince, in retaliation for the Bulgarian capture of Žujince and several other villages in the Karadak area.^[1]

A few days later following the ambush in Žujince, from 3 to 4 November 1944, Yugoslav Partisans and Bulgarians besieged the village of Sopot near Kumanovo and massacred 68 Albanian civilians, including villagers and guests aged 11 to 95.^[5] The 12th Macedonian Brigade continued operations in the Kumanovo region following this event.^[5] From 9 to 15 November, after regrouping and launching yet another assault, Yugoslav Partisans successfully captured Preševo and also moved into Gjilan, forcing Ballist forces into the Karadak Mountains, according to Tahir Zaimi, the Partisan victory resulted in mass executions of Albanians by “Bulgarian and Serbian-Macedonian Partisans.^[6]