Adem Jashari

Adem Jashari (Albanian: Adem Jashari, Serbo-Croatian: Adem Jašari, Адем Јашари) (28 November 1955 – 7 March 1998) was born in Prekaz, in the Drenica region of Kosovo, (at the time Yugoslavia). He is considered to be one of the chief architects of the Kosovo Liberation Army, along with Zahir Pajaziti. Jashari was a chief commander in the Drenica operation zone of the KLA.

Along with his brother Hamza, Adem acted as a guerrilla fighter often engaged in attacks against Serbian military and paramilitary forces. Milošević’s Yugoslavia, considered him a terrorist, which led to the military action by the Yugoslav military in 1998. In July 1997 a Yugoslav court had convicted him in absentia of terrorist actions in a trial condemned by international human rights groups. He was killed in March 1998, along with most of his extended family, when Yugoslav security forces laid siege to his home in Prekaz.

Life

In 1991, Jashari moved to Albania to train with the first volunteers who later joined in Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). On 28 February 1998 a group of KLA fighters led by Adem Jashari were attacked by Serbian police patrols killing four policemen and injuring two. In the attack sixteen KLA members were killed. The first battle between Jashari and his friends against federal forces took place on the morning of 30 December 1991. Jashari's house was surrounded by a large number of security personnel demanding his surrender. They broke the siege and later participated in several actions against the Yugoslav Army and police.

On 28 February 1998 a group of KLA fighters led by Adem Jashari attacked a Yugoslav police patrol, killing four policemen and injuring two. In the attack sixteen KLA members were killed.

Death

Main article: Attack on Prekaz

In the early morning hours of 5 March 1998, Prekaz was attacked again by the large forces of Yugoslav national army and police. A second ring of troops was formed to prevent any possible escape. The attacking force consisted of armored personnel carriers and policemen, backed up by artillery from a nearby ammunition factory. The gun battle lasted for two days.

Police forces first asked Jashari to come out and give himself up, then gave him a 2 hour deadline to consider the offer. After time ran out, shootings started. In one of the houses, the police fired mortars, followed by tear gas. Most of Jashari's extended family gathered in a single room, which had a brick wall. The shelling continued for another thirty-six hours before the police finally entered the compound. Adem Jashari together with fifty-two of his family members were killed, some of them burned beyond recognition.

Aftermath

Bust of Adem Jashari in central part of Tirana

Jashari became a symbol of independence for Kosovar Albanians, as many have been known to wear t-shirts with his picture after Kosovo declared its independence on Sunday, 17 February 2008. The t-shirts are known to say "Bac, U Kry!", which roughly translates to 'Uncle, It's done!" in English. The family home in Prekaz i Poshtem has been converted into a shrine, and the anniversary of his death is marked by the Epopee of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The title "Hero of Kosovo" was awarded to him in 2008 by the Prime Minister of Kosovo.

Nevertheless, Jashari's attacks and rebellion was sometimes associated with behavior of Drenica kaçaks from the past:

In one village, Donji Prekaz, lived a local tough called Adem Jashari. Several years before he had killed a Serbian policeman and been convicted, but the Serbs were frightened to get him because he would shoot at them from his house. They had tried in January but were forced to retreat. Jashari was a maverick. He hated the Serbs, and although he was one of the KLA’s early recruits, he was no ideological guerrilla. In the words of one source: “He liked to get drunk and go out and shoot Serbs.” In this sense he was a true, dyed in the wool, Drenica kaçak.

—Tim Judah, Kosovo, War and Revenge

Trivia

• Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari - The main Kosovar Airport is named after Adem Jashari

See also

• Kosovo War
• Attack on Prekaz

Notes and references

Notes:

a.	^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 86 UN member states.

References:

External links

• Article about Adem Jashari - Gazeta Wyborcza (Polish)