Incident in Lez

Incident in Lez
Part of the Kosovo War
Date 1 September 1998 Location Lez, FR Yugoslavia Result Yugoslav victory KLA militants withdraw from Lez after suffering losses
Belligerents
FR Yugoslavia	Kosovo Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Božidar Delić	Unknown
Units involved
MUP	Unknown
Casualties and losses
3 wounded	16 killed

The Incident in Lez occurred on 1 September 1998 when Serbian Police (MUP) attacked Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) positions in the village. In addition to Lez, as part of this action, KLA positions in the villages of Kushtendillë, Lybeçevë and Hoçë e Qytetit were also attacked but the fiercest battle took place in Lez.

The operation

On Monday, August 31, Serbian Police surrounded Lez, and on Tuesday morning, September 1, 1998, around 08:00, they began shelling Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) positions in the hills around the village. The villagers fled to nearby Ljubičevo, while KLA members remained. Around 10:00 a.m., the security forces approached KLA position at a place called Livdahet te Lavdice. A grenade exploded in the trench at this position, killing four members of the KLA. Another 6 members of the KLA were killed in the same position in an exchange of fire with police. In the afternoon, a group of security forces entered the village from the direction of the village of Kustendila, having previously clashed with a group of KLA in the forest above the village, during which three terrorists were killed. By the end of the operation, three more members of the KLA were killed. During this successful action against militants in Lez, three policemen were wounded - Miroslav Rakonjac was wounded by automatic weapons around 2:00 p.m., while Miroljub Ristić was more seriously and Nenad Aleksić was lightly wounded by the action of militants using automatic weapons, hand grenade launchers and mortars around 4:20 p.m.

After this, less intense conflicts continued in the surrounding Prizren villages. According to Albanian data, a total of 27 members of the KLA were killed in the clashes around Prizren from September 1 to 5, including the conflict in Lez.