Battle of Qafë Hajlë

Battle of Qafë Hajlë
Part of the Kosovo War
Date 18-19 April Location Rugova, AP Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo) Result KLA victory After a push from Besnik Lajçi, the Yugoslav forces are defeated and retreat from Qafë Hajlë.
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army	FR Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Besnik Lajçi  † Selman Lajçi  † Salih Lajçi Imer Nikçi	unknown
Strength
small	Greater than the KLA
Casualties and losses
7+ killed	Dozens killed

The Battle of Qafë Hajlë (Albanian: Beteja e Qafë Hajlës, Serbian: Bitka kod Kafe Hajle) was a battle fought on 18-19 April during the Kosovo war between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and FR Yugoslavia. The battle happened in the Rugova region near Peć where the Yugoslav forces attacked the KLA positions attempting to capture the village of Greater Shtupeç.

Background

In earlier wars, Rugova had been a shelter for patriots such as Hasan Prishtina and Haxhi Zeka. Similarly, during the Kosovo War, Rugova played a major role in sheltering those who were left homeless, and were seeking for a way to get into Montenegro and Albania. Rugova also had a branch of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), commanded by Salih Lajçi, known as "The 136 Rugova Brigade".

Battle

On 17 April 1999 the Yugoslav military began their offensive in the Rugova region. They would initially attempt to capture the village of Greater Shtupeç, where the 163rd "Rugova" brigade was located. On 18 April they reached Mt.Hajla which stood as a defense of Greater Shtupeç. The KLA positions werre attacked by a stronger force. After some fighting, the first casualty of the 163rd Rugova brigade of the Kosovo War fell in battle, that being Xhavit Lajçi. After further fighting the Yugoslav forces would advance in Qafë Hajlë and would kill KLA fighter Ramush Lajçi. General Selman Lajçi and 2 other soldiers would go to pick up Ramush Lajçi's courpse but while doing this Selman Lajçi was shot and wounded fatally falling to the ground. His last words would be "Be carefull" which he told his fellow soldiers which retreated back, as commander Selman Lajçi would die from his injury. On the 19th of April Yugoslav forces would continue pushing the KLA back in Qafë Hajlë before they were brought to a stop by the KLA defensive positions. In the fierce firefight the Yugoslav army would injure general Besnik Lajçi, who upon his injury would decide to make a last ditch sacrifice to win the battle, would charge at the Yugoslav forces taking advantage of the gunfire of his fellow fighters, Salih Lajçi and Imer Nikçi, going in-between Yugoslav lines leading to casualties on the Yugoslav side being in the dozens, before he would fall to his injuries. Upon seeing this, the Yugoslav forces retreated from Qafë Hajlë. In the end, 7 known KLA fighters were killed however the casualties could have been greater, while on the yugoslav side dozens of troops would be killed, mainly due to Besnik Lajçi's sacrficial push which ultimately won the battle for the KLA.