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1998–99 Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes
Part of the Kosovo War
Albanian Type 59 tanks near the Yugoslav border, 20 May 1999.
Date 16/17 April 1998 – 11 June 1999 Location Albanian – Yugoslav border Result Kumanovo Agreement Yugoslav Army withdraws from the Albanian border
Belligerents
Yugoslavia	Albania Kosovo Liberation Army NATO
Commanders and leaders
Slobodan Milošević Vladimir Lazarević	Rexhep Meidani Pandeli Majko Agim Ramadani Wesley Clark
Strength
Unknown	4,000–6,000 troops

Background

In early 1998, as tensions increased in Kosovo, it became increasingly difficult for the Albanian Army to monitor the country's 140-kilometre (87 mi) border with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and cope with the steady influx of Kosovo Albanian refugees into the country. VJ units controlled the border along a few areas, but generally relied on the remote mountainous terrain to do their work for them. Many Yugoslav border units suffered from lack of manpower, the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia having seriously damaged their resources. The morale of soldiers was low, food was of very poor quality, and spare parts for army and police equipment and supplies were difficult to come by.

In particular, Albanian authorities were concerned with attempts by Serbia to implicate Albania as a supporter of terrorism. The Albanian Army had an estimated 4,000–6,000 soldiers, and Yugoslavia was said to have "little regard" for the country's military.

VJ–KLA clashes

1998 incidents

The first clashes on the Albanian–Yugoslav border occurred between 16 and 17 April 1998, when the VJ engaged KLA militants attempting to enter Yugoslavia illegally from Albania. Yugoslavia accused Albania of providing the KLA weapons, a charge which Tirana denied. On 23 April, 15–30 insurgents were killed while trying to smuggle themselves into Kosovo. Albania responded by stationing elite units of its army along the Yugoslav border.

On 29 May, three Yugoslav soldiers were shot and killed at the Morinë border crossing. On 16 June, a VJ sniper shot and killed an Albanian man attempting to cross the Albanian–Yugoslav border illegally on a packed mule. The man was killed while he and his brother attempted to smuggle weapons to the KLA. The man's brother escaped unharmed, and gunfire was later reported between VJ units and 4 armed men, believed to be the dead Albanian's brothers, as they attempted to retrieve the corpse. Albanian border guards later attempted to retrieve the body themselves, but were also fired on by the VJ. No one was injured in the incident. Albanian President Rexhep Meidani called the firefight "another provocation" and urged Yugoslavia to "stop the bloodshed" in Kosovo. Later that day, a Yugoslav military helicopter was seen flying over Albanian airspace. Witnesses reported that it opened fire on a makeshift Kosovo Albanian refugee camp within Albania, killing 2 people. On 17 July, the VJ began shelling KLA positions near the Albanian border. Two shells fell inside Albanian territory, in the village of Padesh, near Tropojë. Albania lodged a formal protest and demanded a meeting with Yugoslav authorities. The Yugoslav government denied deliberately shelling Albanian territory. Albanian officials later reported that 19 wounded KLA insurgents entered Albania from Kosovo to escape the VJ, and were taken by helicopter to Tirana to receive medical treatment. Another 80 Albanians, reportedly civilians, strayed into a nearby minefield and had to be rescued by Albanian border guards. On 18 July, VJ units ambushed a group of 1,000 KLA militants trying to illegally enter Kosovo from Albania, just west of Dečani. Yugoslav officials reported that 30 militants were "liquidated" in the ensuing clash. About 200 were reported to have successfully entered Kosovo, while hundreds of others were forced to retreat back to Albania. The KLA insisted that no more than 10 of its fighters were killed. By 24 August, the VJ claimed that the KLA had provoked 146 armed incidents since April 1998. Captain Željko Žirojević, the spokesman of the Pristina Corps, reported that "members of the [Yugoslav] border guard [...] have liquidated more than 450 terrorists". The VJ revised this figure the following month, and stated that 90 militants had been killed while attempting to illegally cross the border since early January. The Yugoslav Defense Ministry reported that 947 rifles, 161 light machine guns, 33 mortars, 55 mines, 3,295 hand grenades, and almost 350,000 rounds of ammunition had been confiscated by the VJ and Yugoslav border guard in the same period. According to the military periodical Jane's, about 130 KLA infiltrators were killed by the VJ over the course of 1998.

On 3 December, a Yugoslav border patrol ambushed and killed a group of 8 Albanians that it claimed were trying to smuggle weapons into Kosovo. On 14 December, a column of 140 KLA insurgents attempted to enter Kosovo illegally from Albania in the border region near the city of Prizren. The column was ambushed by the VJ, leaving 36 insurgents dead. A further 12 insurgents were wounded in the ambush and 9 were arrested. The VJ reported that it had not suffered any casualties. According to the Serbian Ministry of Information, the clash occurred near the border outposts of Gorozup and Liken, 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of Pristina, and lasted for more than 5 hours. Authorities also claimed to have seized large quantities of weapons and supplies. The KLA responded to the ambush by killing 6 Serbian teenagers in the Panda Bar in Peć. On 20 December, thousands of Kosovo Albanians and about 1,000 KLA militants attended the collective funeral ceremony of the 36 killed insurgents, which took place on a field dubbed "The Tomb of Heroes", about 61 kilometres (38 mi) northwest of Pristina. The United States issued statements condemning that month's violence.

Battle of Košare

The Košare corridor, located in western Kosovo, was the main small arms and munitions supply route for the KLA before the Kosovo War. From 1 January to 30 August 1998, Yugoslavia recorded 25 minor battles between the VJ and KLA in the corridor. This was more than in all of the other Albanian–Yugoslav border areas combined. In late 1998 and early 1999, the KLA defeated VJ units near Košare and carved out a small enclave which connected Kosovo and Albania. It allowed Albanian volunteers to enter Yugoslavia unhindered. Weapons and ammunition, sent by the Albanian diaspora, were smuggled in through this enclave while Albanian Americans brought boots, uniforms, satellite phones, and arms.

The battle for the Košare corridor began on 9 April 1999. The KLA had a force of 6,000 insurgents at the beginning of the battle, facing approximately 2,000 Yugoslav soldiers. The Yugoslav border was defended by the 105th Motorized Brigade and elements of the 63rd Parachute Brigade and the 72nd Special Brigade, which were reinforced by several Russian volunteers. The KLA began their offensive by launching an assault against a six-hut VJ outpost in the corridor. Insurgents then overran a nearby military barracks. According to the KLA, the goal of the offensive was to reach an estimated 20,000 Albanian refugees stranded on the Albanian–Yugoslav border and to create a bridgehead that would allow insurgents to set up bases within Kosovo. Early in the fighting, the VJ ambushed a group of 24 KLA insurgents and killed 20.

The battle quickly descended into stalemate and weeks of heavy fighting ensued. On 22 May, NATO accidentally bombed KLA positions near Košare, killing 67 Kosovo Albanian insurgents. The error was possibly the result of Serbian intelligence passing disinformation off to NATO.

Battle of Mount Paštrik

On 26 May, the KLA launched an assault codenamed Operation Arrow. It commenced along a ten-mile (16 km) stretch of the Košare corridor and saw approximately 3,000 KLA insurgents, ordered into three brigades, shell VJ units stationed on Mount Paštrik. Eighty of the insurgents were Albanians from the United States, fighting with the so-called Atlantic Brigade. They were dispersed between the 121st Brigade "Paštrik" and the 128th Brigade "Agim Ramadani". Several non-Albanian volunteers, professional soldiers from countries such as Denmark and Israel, also fought within the KLA ranks. General Vladimir Lazarević, the commander of the Serbian Pristina Corps, stated that the KLA offensive was the "...beginning of a new phase of operation, the so-called land invasion." The KLA's strategic goal was to seize the Paštrik mountain range and then link up with KLA units in central Kosovo. On 27 May, 250 poorly trained and equipped insurgents attempted to break through Mount Paštrik, where they were confronted by 700–1,000 VJ soldiers and sustained heavy casualties. From across the border, the Albanian Army helped the KLA by firing artillery at the Yugoslav Army. This did little to help the KLA and by 30 May its units were close to being defeated on the mountain. This forced General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in Europe, to give the order for NATO aircraft to directly intervene in the battle. He told other NATO leaders: "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."

On 7 June, the VJ launched a counter-attack against the KLA just south of Mount Paštrik, where the two sides had been exchanging artillery fire since 26 May. The KLA managed to repel the VJ, which had been dispersed around the mountain, and flushed its troops out into the open. Taking advantage of improved weather conditions and the deterioration of Yugoslav anti-aircraft capabilities, NATO dispatched two B-52s and two Rockwell B-1 Lancer strategic bombers on a daytime raid against Yugoslav Army positions. The four aircraft dropped a total of 86 Mk 82 bombs on an open field near the Albanian–Yugoslavian border, where VJ units were thought to have massed. NATO initially estimated that 800–1,200 Yugoslav troops were caught in the attack and stated that more than half that number were killed. NATO later revised its estimate and stated that as many as 200 VJ personnel were killed. These reports became extremely controversial after the war, especially when it became clear that considerably fewer VJ personnel were killed in the bombing than initially believed. There is no evidence that the strike ever inflicted heavy Yugoslav casualties or caused substantial damage to Yugoslav Army units on Mount Paštrik.

International incidents

Ruins near Morinë in the White Drin valley, at the border between Albania and Kosovo.

On 25 March 1999, VJ personnel in Kosovo shot at a group of Albanian Army soldiers inside Albania. Albanian Army forces along the Albanian–Yugoslav border were lightly armed, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and had explicit orders "never to fire back at the Yugoslavs". OSCE monitor Pier Ganggrigp commented that the Albanian Army did not have "any capability to defend anything". On 9 April 1999, a band of KLA insurgents attempting to cross into Kosovo became trapped in a minefield near Tropojë and were ambushed by VJ personnel. A KLA commander reported that 7 KLA insurgents were killed in the clash, and claimed that 3 VJ personnel were captured and "many" were killed. It was later reported that the corpses of 8 KLA insurgents were taken to a hospital in Bajram Curri. A further 7 insurgents were reported injured.

On 11 April, Albania relinquished control of its airspace and ports over to NATO. Later that day, the VJ engaged in another clash with KLA units near Tropojë. A total of 66 Yugoslav artillery shells landed on Albanian territory. Albania subsequently accused Yugoslavia of attempting to widen the Kosovo conflict. In turn, Yugoslavia accused Albania of using artillery fire to support the KLA's armed incursions into Kosovo and claimed that shells fired from inside Albania had landed on its territory. International monitors reported that 2 Albanian civilians were killed and 9 wounded by the Yugoslav shelling, which struck a police station and residential area. Albania responded to the incident by demanding that NATO target VJ positions on the Albanian–Yugoslav border.

On 13 April, Albanian authorities claimed that about 50 Yugoslav infantrymen crossed the Albanian border and pushed 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) into the country. They reportedly occupied the village of Kamenicë in an attempt to destabilize KLA supply lines and torched a series of homes. The OSCE stated that the troops were initially confronted by 15 Albanian border guards, who were quickly forced into retreat. The Albanian Army then sent reinforcements to confront the VJ personnel. The Yugoslavs exchanged gunfire with the Albanians for about one hour before withdrawing. One Albanian civilian was killed and 16 were wounded during the incursion and 5 houses were destroyed. Yugoslavia denied that the incident had ever occurred. The United States warned Belgrade not to widen the Kosovo conflict, saying that this would have "serious consequences". Several hours after the alleged incursion, the VJ dropped two cluster bombs on the village of Zogaj, near Shkodër. Five cattle were killed in the attack.

On 18 April, Albania and Yugoslavia broke off all diplomatic relations. That same day, 5 Kosovo Albanian refugees, including 3 children, were killed when their car hit a landmine about 20 metres (66 ft) from the Albanian border. VJ personnel had been seen planting landmines near the area several days prior, in an attempt to fortify the area should NATO launch a ground attack. Later that day, the VJ shelled a line of Kosovo Albanian refugees at a border post near the village of Morinë, killing 1 and injuring 22. On 20 April, VJ personnel exchanged fire with Albanian soldiers for more than six hours at the Qafa e Prushit border post, leaving one Albanian soldier wounded. OSCE monitors described the incident as "a Serb provocation". On 27 May, the VJ shelled KLA positions on the Albanian–Yugoslav border. Some shells were reported to have landed inside Albania. An Albanian man and his daughter were killed in the attack. Later that day, 2 Albanian border guards were seriously injured by a landmine near Morinë and a Chilean reporter was shot in the head by a sniper.

On 31 May, the VJ shelled an Albanian Army post near Morinë, about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the Yugoslav border. According to the OSCE, the Pogaj post was "levelled to the ground". Later that day, the Albanian police and the KLA reported that VJ tanks were approaching the Albanian border. On 1 June, several waves of NATO Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs accidently dropped dozens of laser-guided missiles on Morinë. The bombing prompted dozens of Albanian border guards to flee, apparently unsure if they were being attacked by the VJ or by NATO. One Kosovo Albanian refugee was wounded in the attack.

On 4 June, the VJ fired 8 artillery shells at the Albanian Army barracks in Krumë, where hundreds of Kosovo Albanian refugees had sought refuge. One eighteen-year-old woman was killed in the attack, which prompted relief workers and local residents to hide in cellars. Just before midnight on 5 June, the VJ fired at least ten shells at Krumë. Most of the shells fell on the settlements of Golaj, Perollaj and Nikoliq, which were not known to harbour KLA insurgents. The shelling wounded two fourteen-year-old girls and destroyed several homes. It prompted the Kosovo Albanian refugees to evacuate to Kukës, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the Yugoslav border.

Aftermath

Yugoslavia and NATO signed a Military Technical Agreement in the Macedonian city of Kumanovo on 10 June 1999 and agreed to end the Kosovo conflict. The treaty, termed the Kumanovo agreement, ensured the withdrawal of Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo and the insertion of a large NATO peacekeeping force, the Kosovo Force (KFOR), into the province. That same day, German Army General Helmut Harff negotiated the withdrawal of about 60 VJ personnel at the Morinë border crossing, giving them 30 minutes to collect their supplies and equipment. The Battle of Košare ended later that day, as VJ personnel withdrew from Kosovo with the signing of the agreement. About 60 Yugoslav soldiers were killed and 150 were wounded in the battle. The KLA suffered losses of 150 killed and 300 wounded. VJ personnel retreated from Mount Paštrik a short time later and withdrew from Kosovo.

Dozens were killed in clashes between the VJ and the Albanian military. According to the Albanian government, 446,371 Kosovo Albanian refugees sought shelter in Albania by the end of the war on 11 June 1999. 294,771 of these were sheltered by local Albanian families and 151,600 stayed in tents and public buildings until the conflict ended. The cost of having so many refugees within its borders imposed a great burden on Albania's already fragile economy and it is estimated that the total population of the country increased by one-sixth between March and June 1999. Most Kosovo Albanian refugees returned to their homes shortly after the war ended, in what was reported to be the fastest refugee return in history.

References

Books

• Bardos, Gordon (2000). "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Heading for the Abyss". In Rutland, Peter (ed.). Holding the Course. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0-7656-0360-8.
• Cordesman, Anthony H. (2000). The Lessons and Non-lessons of the Air and Missile Campaign in Kosovo. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 978-0-27597-230-1.
• David, Saul (2012). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-75669-548-4.
• Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania (2 ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6.
• Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4158-5.
• Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2.
• Krieger, Hanke (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation, 1974–1999. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80071-4.
• Lambeth, Benjamin S. (2001). NATO's Air War for Kosovo: A Strategic and Operational Assessment. Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-83303-237-9.
• Pettifer, James; Vickers, Miranda (2007). The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-86064-974-5.
• Ron, James (2003). Frontiers and Ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52093-690-4.
• Shay, Shaul (2007). Islamic Terror and the Balkans. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0931-3.
• Waters, Timothy William (2013). "Vital Signs: The Milošević Trial and its Context—A Foundational Primer". In Waters, Timothy William (ed.). The Milošević Trial: An Autopsy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-979584-0.

News reports

• John Ward Anderson (28 May 1999). "Rebels Undertake New Drive Into Kosovo". The Washington Post.
• The Associated Press (19 July 1998). "Serbs Shell Kosovo Border". Lawrence Journal-World.
• "Albania angry as Kosovo fighting intensifies". BBC. 19 July 1998.
• "Thirty dead in Kosovo". BBC. 14 December 1998.
• "Kosovo protests mar peace efforts". BBC. 20 December 1998.
• "Serb war machine 'suffers'". BBC. 11 April 1999.
• "Nato urged to target Serbs on border". BBC. 12 April 1999.
• "Serbs warned over cross-border raid". BBC. 13 April 1999.
• "Mine kills five refugees". BBC. 18 April 1999.
• "Border clashes between Yugoslav and Albanian troops". BBC. 20 April 1999.
• "Serbs shell Albanian border". BBC. 28 May 1999.
• "Albania warns of Serb tank advance". BBC. 31 May 1999.
• "Nato bombs fall on Albania". BBC. 1 June 1999.
• "Albania profile". BBC. 12 June 2014.
• "Ljudski gubici tokom NATO bombardovanja SRJ". B92 (in Serbian). 24 March 2012.
• "Albanians killed in Kosovo border clash". CBC. 15 December 1998.
• Emma Daly (14 April 1999). "War In The Balkans: Serbs enter Albania and burn village". The Independent.
• "Brief Serb Incursion Stirs Fear In Albania". Chicago Tribune. 14 April 1999.
• John Daniszewski (14 April 1999). "Yugoslav Troops Said to Cross Into Albania". The Los Angeles Times.
• Ian Fisher (27 May 1999). "2 Die as Shelling Spills Over Into Albania From Kosovo". The New York Times.
• Ian Fisher (2 June 1999). "Blunders; Bombs Hit Albania Town Near Kosovo Border". The New York Times.
• Ian Fisher (7 June 1999). "Balkan Warfare Retains Its Fury As Refugees Wait for a Final Pact". The New York Times.
• Ian Fisher (9 June 1999). "Aided by NATO Bombing, Rebels Position Themselves to Become Kosovo's New Army". The New York Times.
• Chris Hedges (2 June 1998). "New Serb Assault On Albania Rebels". The New York Times.
• "U paklu Košara – neispričana ratna priča". Politika (in Serbian). 25 March 2013.
• "A Kosovo Chronology". Public Broadcasting Service. 2000.
• Marjorie Miller (17 June 1999). "German Force Savors 'Moral' Postwar Debut". The Los Angeles Times.
• "Clashes Between Belgrade Troops and Rebels Hot Up". New Straits Times. 24 August 1998.
• "Albanian Says No Talks Till Yugoslav Forces Leave Kosovo". The New York Times. 18 June 1998.
• "A Desperate Fight For a Key Outpost". Time Magazine. 18 April 1999.
• Joyce Wadler (27 February 2002). "Fighting for Press Freedom in a Dangerous World". The New York Times.
• Craig R. Whitney (6 June 1999). "Moscow Shows Its Irritation As Allies Continue Bombing". The New York Times.