Ambush near Kosovska Mitrovica
{{Short description|Incident during the Kosovo War}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Ambush near Mitrovica
| partof = the Kosovo War
| place = Bare, Mitrovica, FR Yugoslavia
| date = 8 January 1999
| combatant1 = 22px Kosovo Liberation Army
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Serbia and Montenegro; Flag of Yugoslavia (1992–2003).svg}} Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
| result = KLA victory
| casualties1 = 22px unknown
| casualties2 = 20px 3 killed
20px 1 wounded{{Cite web |title=A WEEK OF TERROR IN DRENICA |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kosovo/Obrinje6-07.htm |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=www.hrw.org}}
20px 8 captured (later released)
| units1 = 22px 141st Brigade “Mehë Uka”{{cite book|last=Kurti|first=Miftar|title=Vrojtime historike|year=2002|publisher=Faik Konica|url=https://dukagjinibooks.com/en/books/19145 |access-date=2 September 2024|pages=71–72|language=sq}}
| units2 = 20px Yugoslav Army
| image =
| caption =
}}
The Ambush near Kosovska Mitrovica ({{langx|sr|Zaseda kod Kosovske Mitrovice}}; {{langx|sq|Prita afër Mitrovicës}}) was an incident that occurred on 8 January 1999, when members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) ambushed a Yugoslav Interior Ministry convoy carrying rations to troops stationed in a field near Kosovska Mitrovica.{{Cite news |date=9 January 1999 |title=Kosovo rebels kill 3 Serbs |pages=1 |work=The Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19990109&id=7M0wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=09wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1170,1331353}}{{Cite news |date=9 January 1999 |title=KOSOVO REBELS KILL 3 SERB POLICE, SEIZE 8 SOLDIERS IN AMBUSHES |page=6 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-01-09-9901090267-story.html?adlt=strict&toWww=1&redig=DA8DE5646EB7461F916EC39A41645459}}{{Cite news |date=9 January 1999 |title=Serb forces gear up after rebels kill 3 officers, seize 8 soldiers |page=6 |newspaper=Deseret News |agency=The Associated Press |url=https://www.deseret.com/1999/1/9/19425868/serb-forces-gear-up-after-rebels-kill-3-officers-seize-8-soldiers?adlt=strict&toWww=1&redig=7D05CE7295DF4A78A93A22E8172065A3}}{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=R. Jeffrey |date=1999-01-28 |title=SERBS TRIED TO COVER UP MASSACRE |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/01/28/serbs-tried-to-cover-up-massacre/7f77c7e7-7a87-472e-b177-f679a76a2454/ |access-date=2023-11-25 |issn=0190-8286}} Later that evening, two columns of Yugoslav troops, accompanied with at least fifty tanks, set off in the direction of Kosovska Mitrovica.{{Cite web |title=CNN - Yugoslav army moves tanks into Kosovo villages - January 9, 1999 |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9901/09/kosovo.02/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.cnn.com}} The Yugoslav troops told journalists that they were heading toward the area where the captive troops were thought to be held.{{Campaignbox Kosovo War}}
Background
In 1992–1993, ethnic Albanians created the KLA{{cite book |last1=Eriksson |first1=Mikael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EuVWELK7awsC&pg=PA43 |title=Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding: Peace from the Ashes of War? |last2=Kostić |first2=Roland |date=15 February 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-18916-6 |pages=43–}} which started attacking Yugoslavian police forces and secret-service officials who abused Albanian civilians in 1995.{{Cite book |last=Perritt |first=Henry H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlHqkxGk4Q8C |title=Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency |date=2010-10-01 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-09213-8 |page=63 |language=en}} Starting in 1998, the KLA was involved in frontal battle, with increasing numbers of Yugoslav security forces. Escalating tensions led to the Kosovo War in February 1998.{{cite book |author=Independent International Commission on Kosovo |url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/6D26FF88119644CFC1256989005CD392-thekosovoreport.pdf |title=The Kosovo Report |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0199243099 |location=Oxford |page=2 |access-date=2020-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411181432/https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/6D26FF88119644CFC1256989005CD392-thekosovoreport.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-11 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Quackenbush |first=Stephen L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9c5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |title=International Conflict: Logic and Evidence |publisher=Sage |year=2015 |isbn=9781452240985 |location=Los Angeles |page=202 |access-date=2020-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111165732/https://books.google.com/books?id=l9c5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |archive-date=2023-01-11 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=June 1999 |title=Roots of the Insurgency in Kosovo |url=https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/BB-82-Roots-of-the-Insurgency-in-Kosovo.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625175227/https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/BB-82-Roots-of-the-Insurgency-in-Kosovo.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-25 |access-date=2020-08-08}} The shelling of the village of Slapužane by Yugoslav troops triggered the ambush by KLA forces.
Incident
On 8 January, soldiers of the KLA attacked and ambushed a Yugoslav convoy heading for Kosovska Mitrovica in the village Bare in the region Shala e Bajgorës. The KLA killed three Serb policemen, wounded one, and captured eight other policemen.{{Cite web |date=1999-01-11 |title=USAID/OFDA Kosovo Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) Update January 11, 1999 - Albania {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/albania/usaidofda-kosovo-disaster-assistance-response-team-dart-update-january-11-1999 |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=reliefweb.int |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Bird |first=Chris |date=1999-01-09 |title=Rebel killings put Kosovo truce at risk |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jan/09/1 |access-date=2023-11-29 |issn=0261-3077}}
Aftermath
Talks between the Serbs and the KLA on the release of the captured soldiers were conducted in the village of Stari Trg. The ambush led to renewed fighting in the Podujevë area. The KLA followed up the ambush with another attack on a Serbian police patrol near the village of Slivovo, killing one police officer. The village of Račak served as the staging area for these ambushes, resulting in a significant build up of Yugoslav Army forces and subsequent massacre in the village.{{cite book |last1=Aertsen |first1=Ivo |title=Restoring Justice After Large-scale Violent Conflicts - Kosovo, DR Congo and the Israeli-Palestinian Case |last2=Arsovska |first2=Jane |last3=Vanspauwen |first3=Kris |last4=Valiñas |first4=Marta |last5=Rohne |first5=Holger |date=2013 |publisher=Willian Publishing |isbn=978-1-84392-302-2 |pages=90–91}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosovska Mitrovica 1999}}
Category:Ambushes of the Kosovo War
Category:1999 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia