{{Short description|1998 Kosovo War battle}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Lapušnik | place = Lapušnik, Drenica, Kosovo, Yugoslavia | image = | caption = Serbian prisoners in camp that were taken from Kosovo to the Republic of Albania | combatant1 = 22px Kosovo Liberation Army | combatant2 = {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} FR Yugoslavia | result = '''First battle''': KLA victory *Lapušnik prison camp was built '''Second battle''': Yugoslav victory *Yugoslav forces take the Lapušnik prison camp | territory = KLA captured Lapušnik and the surrounding area on May 9 but the village was recaptured by Yugoslav forces on 27th July<ref>{{cite news |title=Serbs claim rebel bastion on key Kosovo road |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/albania/serbs-claim-rebel-bastion-key-kosovo-road |agency=Reuters |date=27 July 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| work=United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals| url=https://www.icty.org/sid/8303| title= Haradin Bala, Isak Musliu, and Agim Murtezi Transferred to the ICTY following their Indictment for Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes| date= 18 February 2003| access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> | partof = the Kosovo War | date = '''First Battle''': 7-10 May 1998<br>'''Second Battle''': 25-26 July 1998 | casualties1 = 22px 47 killed<ref>{{cite web| work=Kallxo| url=https://kallxo.com/lajm/20-vjet-nga-beteja-e-llapushnikut/| date= 10 May 2018| access-date=18 January 2022| title=20 Vjet nga beteja e Llapushnikut}}</ref> | casualties2 = {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} unknown<br>TAM-110 destroyed | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Kosovo War}} | commander1 = 22px Ismet Jashari<br>22px Fatmir Limaj<br>22px Isak Musliu<br>22px Ymer Alushani{{KIA}}<br>22px Kadri Veseli<br> 22px Fehmi Lladrovci | commander2 = {{ubl|{{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Goran Radosavljević|{{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Sreten Lukić}} | units1 = 22px 121st “Ismet Jashari” brigade | units2 = {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Yugoslav Army<br>{{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Yugoslav police | strength2 = {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} 200 personnel | strength1 = 22px 100 militants | casualties3 = {{Flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}}/{{Flagicon|Albania}} 23 civilians executed by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the camp }}

The '''Battle of Lapušnik''' (Serbian :''Битка код Лапушника'', Albanian: ''Beteja e Grykës së Llapushnikut'') took place on 7-10 May and 25-26 July, 1998 in the village of Lapušnik, in the district of Pristina, in Kosovo during the Kosovo War.

On 9 May 1998,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plus |first=Kult |date=2023-05-10 |title=Gryka |url=https://www.kultplus.com/tag/gryka/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=KultPlus |language=sq}}</ref> Ismet Jashari, who still had not fully recovered from the injuries he suffered during a previous ambush, led his forces into Lapušnik, where he defeated the Yugoslav Army and police and captured the town.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grejqevci |first=Fatmir |date=2023-08-25 |title=Ismet Jashar Jashari (16.4.1967 – 25. 8. 1998) |url=https://www.radiokosovaelire.com/ismet-jashar-jashari-16-4-1967-25-8-1998-2/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Radio Kosova e Lirë |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Epopeja e Grykës së Llapushnikut, sinonim i lavdisë, krenarisë dhe qëndresës së UÇK-së. |url=http://www.feratshala.com/sq/lexo?lid=293 |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=feratshala.com |language=sq}}</ref> Alongside with him were Kadri Veseli, Fatmir Limaj,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Përkujtohen të rënët e Grykës së Llapushnikut, Limaj tha se duhet të plotësohet amaneti i dëshmorëve |url=https://ekonomiaonline.com/perkujtohen-te-renet-e-grykes-se-llapushnikut-limaj-tha-se-duhet-te-plotesohet-amaneti-i-deshmoreve/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=ekonomiaonline.com |language=sq}}</ref> Isak Musliu and Ymer Alushani.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-09 |title=23 vite më parë luftëtarët e lirisë në Grykën e Llapushnikut e zgjuan Evropën nga gjumi |url=https://04online.info/23-vite-me-pare-luftetaret-e-lirise-ne-gryken-e-llapushnikut-e-zgjuan-evropen-nga-gjumi/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=04 Online |language=en-GB |archive-date=2023-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224021856/https://04online.info/23-vite-me-pare-luftetaret-e-lirise-ne-gryken-e-llapushnikut-e-zgjuan-evropen-nga-gjumi/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Priština—Peć motorway was obstructed for months, Lapušnik and the surrounding area was under rebel control, enabling the KLA fighters to move freely in a large part of the territory of Kosovo, which enabled them to organise and supply themselves with weapons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-10 |title=25 years since the Battle of Llapushnik |url=https://kosovapress.com/%E2%80%8B25-vite-nga-beteja-e-llapushnikut/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=KosovaPress |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=25 vjet nga beteja e Grykës së Llapushnikut |website=Epoka e Re |url=https://www.epokaere.com/25-vjet-nga-beteja-e-grykes-se-llapushnikut/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Osmani |first=Shqipe |date=2022-05-10 |title=Sot bëhen 24 vite nga Beteja e Llapushnikut |url=https://kosovapost.net/sot-behen-24-vite-nga-beteja-e-llapushnikut/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Kosovapost.net |language=sq}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2022-05-10 |title=24 vjet nga Beteja e Llapushnikut |url=http://qendrapress.com/24-vjet-nga-beteja-e-llapushnikut/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Qendra Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Battle== ===First battle === On 7 May 1998, clashes erupted between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Yugoslav police. By 10 May, Lapušnik was under KLA control. Following the capture, the KLA subsequently built the Lapušnik prison camp.<ref name=":0" /> ===Second battle === On 25 and 26 July 1998, the Yugoslav police and army launched a counter-offensive against most of the KLA's major checkpoints and strongholds, including an attack against the KLA base in Lapušnik and the surrounding villages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Më 25 dhe 26 korrik 1998, forcat ushtarake e policore serbe kishin filluar ofensivën e parë të verës kundër UÇK-së |url=https://www.radiokosovaelire.com/me-25-dhe-26-korrik-1998-forcat-ushtarake-e-policore-serbe-kishin-filluar-ofensiven-e-pare-te-veres-uck-se/ |website=radiokosovaelire.com |date=25 July 2022}}</ref> Fighting broke out, which led to the retreat of the Kosovo Liberation Army into the Berisha mountains. Yugoslav forces seized back control of Lapušnik on July 27.<ref>{{cite news |title=Serbs claim rebel bastion on key Kosovo road |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/albania/serbs-claim-rebel-bastion-key-kosovo-road |agency=Reuters |date=27 July 1998}}</ref>

== Aftermath == Kadri Veseli, a Kosovo Politician and former founder and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, recalled it as one of the most fierce battles, saying that the fighting in Lapušnik resonated throughout Europe and the Albanian diaspora, which increased the ethnic Albanian population's confidence in the strength of the Kosovo Liberation Army with a massive mobilization.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Veseli: The battle of Llapushnik increased the populations confidence in the strength of the KLA|url=https://kosovapress.com/en/veseli-the-battle-of-llapushnik-increased-the-populations-confidence-in-the-strength-of-the-kla/|url-status=live|website=Kosovapress.com|date=9 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107220649/https://kosovapress.com/en/veseli-the-battle-of-llapushnik-increased-the-populations-confidence-in-the-strength-of-the-kla/ |archive-date=2022-01-07 }}</ref>

From mid-June to the end of July, KLA forces established a prison camp in Lapušnik where both Serb and Albanian civilian detainees were subjected to mistreatment, torture and murder.<ref name="ICTY">{{cite web |title=Limaj et al. Case Information Sheet |url=https://www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/cis/en/cis_limaj_al_en.pdf |website=ICTY.org |publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |pages=3–4}}</ref><ref name="Cassese">{{cite book |last1=Cassese |first1=Antonio |title=The Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199238323 |page=794 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ANb0YYQ-m4AC&pg=PA794}}</ref> When Yugoslav forces retook Lapušnik and the surrounding areas, the KLA abandoned the camp and marched the prisoners towards the mountains, dividing them into groups. A group of nine was released while another group numbering some 12 people were shot, ten of whom were killed.<ref name="ICTY" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{Cite web|date=2020-11-05|title=Senior Kosovo Politician Kadri Veseli Indicted for War Crimes|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2020/11/05/senior-kosovo-politician-kadri-veseli-indicted-for-war-crimes/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=Balkan Insight|language=en-US}} *{{Cite web|title=Kosovo conflict {{!}} Summary & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Kosovo-conflict|access-date=2022-01-07|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}

==External links== *{{Cite web|title=Ballina|url=http://old.kosovapress.com/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=old.kosovapress.com}}

Category:Military operations of the Kosovo War Category:1998 in Kosovo Category:Battles in 1998 Category:Kosovo Liberation Army