Kosovo War From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page semi-protected Kosovo War Pa? ?a ?oco?? ? Me?ox?j?

Lufta n Kosov Part of the Yugoslav Wars[1] Kosovo War header.jpg Clockwise from top-left: Yugoslav general staff headquarters damaged by NATO air strikes; A Yugo buried under rubble caused by NATO airstrikes; memorial to local KLA commanders; A USAF F-15E taking off from Aviano Air Base Date 28 February 1998 11 June 1999 (1 year, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)[2] Location Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Outside of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia Albania (Albanian & OSCE Claim)[3][4] Result Kumanovo Treaty Yugoslav forces pull out of Kosovo United Nations Resolution 1244[5] NATO intervention debated[6] KLA veterans join the UPMB, starting the Pre evo insurgency Territorial changes No legal changes to Yugoslav borders according to the Resolution 1244, b ut effective political and economic separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia under U nited Nations administration. Belligerents Kosovo Liberation Army Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Albania Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (FARK) Supported by: Albania (Volunteers and arms) NATO NATO Belgium Canada Czech Republic[7] Denmark France Germany Hungary Italy Luxembourg [7] Netherlands Norway[8] Portugal Poland Spain Turkey[9] United Kingdom United States Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Commanders and leaders Kosovo Liberation Army Adem Jashari Kosovo Liberation Army Ramush Haradinaj Kosovo Liberation Army Fatmir Limaj[10] Albania Bujar Bukoshi NATO NATO full list[show] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milo evic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragoljub Ojdanic

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Neboj a Pavkovic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlastimir ordevic[23] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladimir Lazarevic[24] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sreten Lukic Strength Kosovo Liberation Army 9,000 20,000 insurgents[25] Albania 3,000 FARK insurgents[26] Albania Around 100-150 soldiers[citation needed] NATO cca. 80 aircraft (Operation Eagle Eye)[27] NATO 1,031 aircraft (Operation Allied Force)[28] NATO More than 30 warships and submarines[29] NATO Around 50,000 soldiers stationed in northern Albania Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 85,000 soldiers[30] (including 40,000 in and arou nd Kosovo)[29] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 20,000 policemen Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 100 SAM sites[29] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1,400 artillery pieces (Both ground & air defense)[29] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 240 aircraft [29] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2,032 armored vehicles & tanks[29] Hundreds of Russian volunteers [31][32] Casualties and losses Kosovo Liberation Army 1,500 insurgents killed (according to the KLA)[33] NATO 47 UAVs shot down[34] NATO 2 non-combat deaths[35] United States Four airplanes shot down[36][37][38] United StatesTwo AH-64 Apaches and a AV-8B Harrier crashed[39] United States Three airplanes damaged[40][38] United States 3 soldiers captured[41] Caused by KLA: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia More than 300 soldiers killed according to Yugosl av Army[42] Caused by NATO: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1,031 1,200 killed[a] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 14 tanks destroyed[47] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 18 APCs destroyed[48] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 20 artillery pieces destroyed[48] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 121 aircraft and helicopters destroyed[49] Inside Kosovo: Albania Between 3,000 10,533 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed or missing[50][51] Albania 848,000 863,000 Kosovo Albanians displaced[52][53][54] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2,238 Serbs killed or missing[52] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 230,000 Kosovo Serb, Romani and other non-Albania n civilians displaced[55] Outside of Kosovo: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 489 528 civilian deaths caused by NATO bombing (according to Human Rights Watch)[56] [show] v t e Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugo slavia, which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian rebel gr oup known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) with air support from NATO. The KLA, formed in 1991,[57] initiated its first campaign in 1995 when it launch ed attacks targeting Serbian law enforcement in Kosovo, and in June 1996 the gro up claimed responsibility for acts of sabotage targeting Kosovo police stations. In 1997, the organization acquired a large amount of arms through weapons smugg ling from Albania, following a rebellion which saw large numbers of weapons loot

ed from the country's police and army posts. In 1998, KLA attacks targeting Yugo slav authorities in Kosovo resulted in an increased presence of Serb paramilitar ies and regular forces who subsequently began pursuing a campaign of retribution targeting KLA sympathizers and political opponents[58] in a drive which left 1, 500 to 2,000 KLA combatants and civilians dead[59] and led to the plight of hund reds of thousands of refugees.[60] After attempts at a diplomatic solution faile d, NATO intervened justifying the campaign in Kosovo as a "humanitarian war",[61 ] while Yugoslav forces continued to fight during the two month-long aerial bomb ardment of Yugoslavia.[62] Subsequent investigations have recovered the remains of almost three thousand Kosovo Albanian victims,[63] and in 2001 a United Natio ns court found that there had been a "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments", and that Serb troops had trie d to remove rather than eradicate the Albanian population.[64] The war ended in the Kumanovo Treaty, with Yugoslav forces agreeing to withdraw from Kosovo to make way for an international presence.[65][66] The Kosovo Libera tion Army disbanded soon after this, with some of its members going on to fight for the UPMB in the Pre evo Valley[67] and others joining the National Liberation A rmy (NLA) and Albanian National Army (ANA) during the armed ethnic conflict in M acedonia,[68] while others went on to form the Kosovo Police.[69] The conflict w as at the centre of news headlines for months, and gained major coverage and att ention from the international community and media. The NATO bombing and surround ing events have remained controversial, as it never gained the approval of the U N Security Council.[70] Contents [hide] 1 Background 1.1 Kosovo in Tito's Yugoslavia (1945 1980) 1.2 After the death of Tito (1980 1986) 1.3 Kosovo and the rise of Slobodan Milo evic (1986 1990) 1.4 Constitutional amendments (1989 1994) 1.4.1 Events 2 Eruption of War 2.1 The slide to war (1995 1998) 2.2 War begins 2.2.1 Morale 2.3 UN, NATO, and OSCE (1998 1999) 2.4 The Rambouillet Conference (January March 1999) 3 NATO bombing timeline 4 Yugoslav army withdrawal and the entry of KFOR 5 Reaction to the war 5.1 Support for the war 5.2 Criticism of the case for war 6 Casualties 6.1 Civilian losses 6.1.1 Civilians killed by NATO airstrikes 6.1.2 Civilians killed by Yugoslav forces 6.2 NATO losses 6.3 Yugoslav military losses 6.4 KLA losses 6.5 Aftermath 7 War crimes 7.1 Serbian war crimes 7.2 Albanian war crimes 7.3 NATO war crimes 8 International reaction to NATO intervention 8.1 Africa 8.2 Asia 8.3 Europe 8.4 Oceania 8.5 United Nations 9 Military and political consequences

10 Military decorations 11 Weaponry & vehicles used 12 See also 13 Gallery 14 Footnotes 15 References 16 External links 16.1 Reports 17 Books 17.1 Media 17.2 Maps Background Kosovo in Tito's Yugoslavia (1945 1980) This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of orig inal research may be removed. (September 2009) Tensions between the Serbian and Albanian communities in Kosovo simmered through out the 20th century and occasionally erupted into major violence, particularly during the First Balkan War, World War I, and World War II. The Socialist govern ment of Josip Broz Tito systematically repressed all nationalist manifestations throughout Yugoslavia, seeking to ensure that no republic or nationality gained dominance over the others. In particular, the power of Serbia the largest and most populous republic was diluted by the establishment of autonomous governments in t he province of Vojvodina in the north of Serbia and Kosovo in the south. Kosovo' s borders did not precisely match the areas of ethnic Albanian settlement in Yug oslavia (significant numbers of Albanians were left in the Republic of Macedonia , Montenegro, and Central Serbia. Kosovo's formal autonomy, established under th e 1945 Yugoslav constitution, initially meant relatively little in practice. Tit o's secret police cracked down hard on nationalists. In 1956, a number of Albani ans were put on trial in Kosovo on charges of espionage and subversion. The thre at of separatism was in fact minimal, as the few underground groups aiming for u nion with Albania were politically insignificant. Their long-term impact was sub stantial, though, as some particularly the Revolutionary Movement for Albanian Uni ty, founded by Adem Demaci were to form the political core of the Kosovo Liberatio n Army. Demaci himself was imprisoned in 1964 along with many of his followers. Yugoslavia underwent a period of economic and political crisis in 1969, as a mas sive government program of economic reform widened the gap between the rich nort h and poor south of the country. Student demonstrations and riots in Belgrade in June 1968 spread to Kosovo in No vember the same year, but were quelled by the Yugoslav security forces. However, some of the students' demands in particular, representative powers for Albanians in both the Serbian and Yugoslav state bodies, and better recognition of the Alb anian language were conceded by Tito. The University of Pristina was established a s an independent institution in 1970, ending a long period when the institution had been run as an outpost of Belgrade University. The Albanianisation of educat ion in Kosovo was hampered by the lack of Albanian-language educational material s in Yugoslavia, so an agreement was struck with Albania itself to supply textbo oks. In 1969, the Serbian Orthodox Church ordered its clergy to compile data on the o ngoing problems of Serbs in Kosovo, seeking to pressure the government in Belgra de to do more to protect the Serbian faithful. In 1974, Kosovo's political status was improved further when a new Yugoslav cons titution granted an expanded set of political rights. Along with Vojvodina, Koso vo was declared a province and gained many of the powers of a fully-fledged repu blic: a seat on the federal presidency and its own assembly, police force, and n ational bank.[71] After the death of Tito (1980 1986) Power was still exercised by the Communist Party, but it was now devolved mainly

to ethnic Albanian communists. Tito's death on 4 May 1980 ushered in a long per iod of political instability, worsened by growing economic crisis and nationalis t unrest. The first major outbreak occurred in Kosovo's main city, Pristina, whe n a protest of University of Pristina students over long queues in their univers ity canteen rapidly esca