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|partof= the [[Kosovo War]]
|partof= the [[Kosovo War]]
|caption=
|caption=
|date= 23–30 June 1998<br>({{Age in months, weeks and days|year1=1998|month1=06|day1=23|year2=1998|month2=06|day2=30}})
|date= 23 June&nbsp;– 1 July 1998<br>({{Age in months, weeks and days|year1=1998|month1=06|day1=23|year2=1998|month2=07|day2=01}})
|place= Belaćevac, near [[Obilić]], [[Kosovo (region)|Kosovo]], [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]
|place= Belaćevac, Kosovo, [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]
|result= Decisive [[Army of Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslav Army]] (VJ) and Serbian police victory<ref>{{cite web| publisher=Associated Press| url= http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1998/Serb-Forces-Retake-Kosovo-Mine/id-7e940fa7dcc892b204352ee5bc737bae| title= Serb forces retake Kosovo Mine| date= 30 June 1998| accessdate= 10 May 2013}}</ref>
|result= [[Decisive victory|Decisive]] Yugoslav victory<ref>{{cite web| publisher=Associated Press| url= http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1998/Serb-Forces-Retake-Kosovo-Mine/id-7e940fa7dcc892b204352ee5bc737bae| title= Serb forces retake Kosovo Mine| date= 30 June 1998| accessdate= 10 May 2013}}</ref>
|combatant1=[[File:UCK KLA.png|22px]] [[Kosovo Liberation Army]]
|combatant1=[[File:UCK KLA.png|22px]] [[Kosovo Liberation Army]]
|combatant2= {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]
|combatant2= {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]
⚫
|strength1= 30
|commander1=[[File:UCK KLA.png|22px]] [[Bekim Berisha]]
⚫
|strength2= Hundreds
|commander2= {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Svetozar Marjanović
|casualties1= 10 killed
⚫
|strength1= Unknown
|casualties2= None
⚫
|strength2= Unknown
|casualties3= 9 Serb mineworkers executed<br/>2 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed, 6 wounded and {{circa|8,000}} displaced
|casualties1= [[File:UCK KLA.png|22px]] 3 killed<br>[[File:UCK KLA.png|22px]] 7 wounded<ref>{{cite web| publisher= Radio Free Europe| url= http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1998/07/980701II.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new)| author= | title= Serbia Claims Success in Belaćevac Offensive| date= 30 June 1998| accessdate= 12 March 2013}}</ref>
|casualties2= {{flagicon|FR Yugoslavia}} Unknown
|casualties3= 25 Serbian civilians killed,<ref>{{cite web| publisher= Blic Online| url= http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Hronika/204936/Sutra-pocinje-ekshumacija-masovne-grobnice-Belacevac| author= | title= Sutra počinje ekshumacija masovne grobnice Belaćevac| date= 30 August 2010| accessdate= 12 March 2013}}</ref> including 9 mineworkers executed by the KLA<ref name="ReferenceA">Walker, Tom. ''[[The Times]]'', "Guerrillas in Kosovo 'killed mine hostages', July 2, 1998</ref> <br> 4 [[Kosovo Albanian]] civilians killed<ref>{{cite web| publisher=New York Times| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/01/world/fierce-fighting-as-serbs-try-to-push-rebels-from-kosovo-town.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm| author= | title=Fierce Fighting as Serbs Try to Push Rebels From Kosovo Town| date=1 July 1998 |accessdate=8 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| publisher=BBC| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/122425.stm| author= |title=New Serb offensive in Kosovo| date=30 June 1999 |accessdate=8 October 2012}}</ref> and 8,000 Kosovo Albanians made refugees<ref>{{cite web| publisher=The New York Times| url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/063098kosovo.html| author= Chris Hedges| title= Serbians Unleash Series of Heavy Attacks Against Albanian Separatists| date= 30 June 1998| accessdate= 9 December 2012}}</ref>
}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Kosovo War}}
{{Campaignbox Kosovo War}}


The '''Battle of Belaćevac Mine''' ({{lang-sr|Сукоб код рудника Белаћевац}}; {{lang-al|Beteja e Bardhit të Madh}}) was a 1998 battle that was fought during the [[Kosovo War]] between the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] (KLA) and the [[Army of Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslav Army]] (VJ) over the control of a [[coal mine]] which powered the nearby [[generating station]] which supplied electricity to most of Kosovo.<ref name="indy"/>
The '''Battle of Belaćevac Mine''' ({{lang-al|Beteja e Bardhit të Madh}}; {{lang-sh|Bitka za Belaćevački rudnik}}; [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]: Битка за Белаћевачки рудник) was a week-long clash between the [[Army of Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslav Army]] (VJ), Serbian police (MUP) and the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] (KLA) in June 1998, during the [[Kosovo War]]. It was fought over the [[Belaćevac coal mine|Belaćevac]] [[Coal mining|coal mine]], which powered two [[generating station]]s that supplied electricity to most of Kosovo.


The KLA seized the mine on 22 June, taking nine [[Serbs|Serb]] mineworkers hostage, converting the mine into a base of operations and taunting the Yugoslav authorities by sending daylight patrols within sight of the provincial capital, [[Pristina]]. Over the next seven days, Yugoslav authorities and the KLA negotiated over the fate of the mineworkers. Once negotiations broke down, the VJ and MUP attacked the mine and forced the KLA out. Ten militants were killed in the clashes. The VJ and MUP reported suffering no casualties. Though the mine was recaptured, the hostages were nowhere to be found, and it is assumed they were killed by the militants. As of June 2014, the location of the mineworkers' remains is unknown. No one has ever been convicted of their deaths.
==KLA capture==
On 23 June, Albanian militants of the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] seized the mine from the Yugoslavs, capturing nine mineworkers: Dušan Ađančić, Pero Ađančić, Zoran Ađančić, Mirko Buha, Filip Gojković, Božidar Lempić, Srboljub Savić, Mirko Trifunović and Dragan Vukmirović.<ref name="hrw"/> While one worker, Nebojša Janković, claimed the prisoners had been executed, there was no independent verification.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Among the insurgents were Mensur Kasumi, who was later appointed the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs within Kosovo, Arif "Mujo" Krasniqi, who was involved in the capture of Jarko Spasić on 14 May, and Azem Koskoviku, who commanded a group of heavily armed KLA militants. The KLA then proceeded to use the mine as a staging area for its operations,<ref name="hrw">[[Human Rights Watch]], "Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo",1998. p. 81.</ref> and taunted the Yugoslavs by sending daylight patrols within sight of the nearby villages.<ref name="indy"/>


==Background==
==Yugoslav re-capture==
Following [[World War II]], [[Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo|Kosovo]] was given the status of an autonomous province within the [[Socialist Republic of Serbia]], one of six constitutional republics of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Judah|first=Tim|authorlink=Tim Judah|year=2002|title=Kosovo: War and Revenge|publisher=Yale University Press|location=[[New Haven, Connecticut]]|isbn=978-0-300-09725-2|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=sVf1na3FN_UC&hl=en|page=34}}</ref> After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader ([[Josip Broz Tito]]) in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel.<ref>Judah, pp. 38–9</ref> In 1989, [[Belgrade]] revoked Kosovo's autonomy.<ref name="LeBor">{{cite web|author=[[Adam LeBor]]|year=2002|title=Milosevic: A Biography|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-300-10317-5|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=ZgLko7wjK04C|page=276}}</ref> Kosovo, a province inhabited predominantly by ethnic [[Albanians]], was of great historical and cultural significance to [[Serbs]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Miranda Vickers|year=1999|title=The Albanians: A Modern History|publisher=I.B.Tauris|location=New York|isbn=978-1-86064-541-9|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=IzI0uOZ2j6gC|page=97}}</ref> who had formed a majority there before the mid-19th century, but by 1990 represented only about 10 percent of the population.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Summers|editor=James Summers|year=2011|title=Kosovo: A Precedent?|chapter=Kosovo: From Yugoslav Province to Disputed Independence|publisher=BRILL|location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]]|isbn=978-90-474-2943-2|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=oW2ad7wfz_YC&printsec=frontcover|page=5}}</ref> Alarmed by their dwindling numbers, the province's Serbs began to fear that they were being "squeezed out" by the Albanians, and ethnic tensions worsened.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jasminka Udovički|author2=James Ridgeway|title=Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia|publisher=Duke University Press|date=2000|location=[[Durham, North Carolina]]|isbn=978-0-8223-2590-1|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=GuGe9fy4raoC&printsec=frontcover|page=322}}</ref> As soon as Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Serbian President [[Slobodan Milošević]] to oversee the province, enforced by thousands of heavily armed paramilitaries from Serbia-proper. Albanian culture was systematically repressed and hundreds of thousands of Albanians working in state-owned companies lost their jobs.<ref name="LeBor"/>
On the morning of 30 June, the Yugoslav Army (VJ) launched an offensive into the area of Kosovo where the mines were located, and while some militants withdrew, those remaining in the mining buildings opened fire on the local police at around 14:00.<ref>Hellenic Resources Network, [http://www.hri.org/news/balkans/yds/1998/98-06-30.yds.html Yugoslav Daily Survey], June 30, 1998</ref> Yugoslav police forces, with the help of more than 150 military vehicles including helicopters, tanks and artillery,<ref name="indy">[[The Independent]] [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/new-offensive-dashes-ceasefire-hope-1168593.html New offensive dashes ceasefire hope], June 30, 1998</ref> regained control of the Belaćevac Mine, as most of the Albanian militants had fled after encountering heavy tank-fire.<ref>[[Radio Free Europe]], [http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1998/07/980701II.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) Serbia claims success in Belacevac offensive], June 30, 1998</ref> The region was largely abandoned by both Albanian and Serbian civilians following the re-capture of the mines.<ref>[[National Public Radio]], [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1034166 All Things Considered: Kosovo], July 1, 1998</ref><ref>{{cite web| publisher=BBC| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/123661.stm| author= | title= Serbs re-take Kosovo mine| date=1 July 1998| accessdate=9 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| publisher=New York Times| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/02/world/serbian-forces-retake-mine-held-by-rebels.html| author= |title=Serbian Forces Retake Mine Held by Rebels| date= 2 July 1998 |accessdate=8 October 2012}}</ref>

In 1996, a group of Albanian nationalists calling themselves the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] (KLA) began attacking the [[Military of Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslav Army]] ({{lang-sh-Latn|Vojska Jugoslavije}}; VJ) and the Serbian [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|Ministry of Internal Affairs]] ({{lang-sh-Latn|links=no|Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova}}; MUP) in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], which following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991–92, was just a rump federation consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. At first, the KLA carried out hit-and-run attacks (31 in 1996, 55 in 1997, and 66 in January and February 1998 alone).<ref>Judah, p. 137</ref> It quickly gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom rejected the non-violent resistance to Yugoslav authorities advocated by the politician [[Ibrahim Rugova]] and favoured a more aggressive approach.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dušan Janjić|editor1=Charles W. Ingrao|editor2=Thomas A. Emmert|year=2012|title=Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars' Initiative|chapter=Kosovo under the Milošević Regime|edition=2|publisher=Purdue University Press|location=[[West Lafayette, Indiana]]|isbn=978-1-55753-617-4|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=IDMhDgCJCe0C&printsec=frontcover|page=293}}</ref> The organization received a significant boost in 1997, when an [[Albanian Rebellion of 1997|armed uprising]] in neighbouring [[Albania]] led to thousands of weapons from the [[Albanian Army]]'s depots being looted. Many of these weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA, which already had substantial resources due its involvement in the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people, as well as through donations from the Albanian diaspora.<ref>Judah, pp. x, 127–30</ref>

The KLA's popularity skyrocketed after the VJ and MUP [[Attack on Prekaz|attacked]] the compound of KLA leader [[Adem Jashari]] in March 1998, killing him, his closest associates and most of his family. The attack prompted thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the ranks of the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.<ref>Judah, pp. 138–41</ref>

==Battle==
[[File:Kosovo Power Plant.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Power plants outside of [[Obilić]]]]
On 22 June 1998, the KLA seized the [[Belaćevac coal mine|Belaćevac]] open-pit [[Coal mining|coal mine]], near the town of [[Obilić]].<ref name="HRW">{{cite book|author1=Fred Abrahams|author2=Elizabeth Andersen|year=1998|title=Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo|publisher=Human Rights Watch|location=New York|isbn=978-1-56432-194-7|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=vELQpx1U9EcC|p=81}}</ref> Located about {{convert|10|km}} west of the Kosovan capital, [[Pristina]], Belaćevac was strategically important because it supplied coal to two of Kosovo's most important power plants, which in turn provided electricity to most of province.<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=New Serb offensive in Kosovo|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/122425.stm|date=30 June 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> The attack represented the most serious challenge to the Yugoslav establishment since fighting erupted earlier in the year, not only because of the mine's strategic significance but also because of its close proximity to Pristina.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news|author=[[Chris Hedges]]|publisher=The New York Times|title=Serbians Unleash Series of Heavy Attacks Against Albanian Separatists|url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/063098kosovo.html|date=30 June 1998|accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Irish Times>{{cite news|publisher=The Irish Times|title=Animals take over village that changed hands twice|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/animals-take-over-village-that-changed-hands-twice-1.169028|date=2 July 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> Upon entering the mine, the militants took a number of [[Serbs|Serb]] mineworkers hostage, halting production.<ref name="NYT1"/> [[Human Rights Watch]] identified the nine captives as Dušan Ađančić, Pero Ađančić, Zoran Ađančić, Mirko Buha, Filip Gojković, Božidar Lempić, Srboljub Savić, Mirko Trifunović and Dragan Vukmirović.<ref name="HRW"/> Some of the militants were armed with [[automatic weapons]], but most carried hunting rifles. There were about 30 fighters in all, most wearing civilian clothes.<ref name="Hundley">{{cite news|author=Tom Hundley|publisher=Chicago Tribune|title=Kosovo's Conflict At Doorsteps Of Capital|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-06-29/news/9806290060_1_kosovo-liberation-army-albanians-serb|date=29 June 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> "Some of the guerrillas were no more than boys with single-shot rifles," wrote journalist Jeffrey Fleishman. "Others were brawny men with handlebar mustaches, ammunition belts and bayonets." Fleishman described them as "jittery and weary", and noted that they did not even have [[walkie-talkies]].<ref name="Philly">{{cite news|author=Jeffrey Fleishman|publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer|title=A Ragged Army Fights For Kosovo: Poorly Armed Ethnic Albanian Guerrillas Continue Battling Much Larger Serbian Forces|date=2 July 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref>

The fighters soon erected roadblocks, checkpoints and anti-sniper screens. Their heaviest weapons were two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and a {{convert|50|mm|abbr=on}} machine gun.<ref name="Hundley"/> They then forced the mineworkers to dig trenches separating the KLA from Yugoslav positions.<ref name="The Times">{{cite news|author=Tom Walker|publisher=The Times|title=Guerrillas in Kosovo 'killed mine hostages'|date=1 July 1998}}</ref> Soon after the mine was taken, Yugoslav authorities entered into negotiations with the KLA over the fate of the hostages.<ref name="HRW"/> The Yugoslavs also erected roadblocks of their own, closed off the road leading to Belaćevac, and surrounded the mine with snipers.<ref name="Philly"/>

Negotiations between the authorities and the KLA over the fate of the hostages apparently broke down just prior to the Yugoslav counterattack.<ref name="The Times"/> Backed by armoured vehicles, artillery and a number of tanks,<ref name="indy">[[The Independent]] [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/new-offensive-dashes-ceasefire-hope-1168593.html New offensive dashes ceasefire hope], June 30, 1998</ref> hundreds of VJ and MUP personnel moved to recapture Belaćevac beginning on 29 June.<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|author=Adrian Webb|year=2008|title=The Routledge Companion to Central and Eastern Europe Since 1919|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-1-13406-521-9|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=qQZ9AgAAQBAJ|page=121}}</ref> By the first day, Yugoslav forces had advanced to within {{convert|600|ft}} of the mine. Yugoslav officials explained that the VJ and MUP were deliberately advancing slowly in order to avoid taking casualties, and alleged that the militants were using the mineworkers as human shields.<ref name="NYT2">{{cite news|author=Chris Hedges|publisher=The New York Times|title=Fierce Fighting as Serbs Try to Push Rebels From Kosovo Town|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/01/world/fierce-fighting-as-serbs-try-to-push-rebels-from-kosovo-town.html|date=1 July 1998|accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref> One group of militants soon completely withdrew from Belaćevac,<ref name="RFE">[[Radio Free Europe]], [http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1998/07/980701II.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) Serbia claims success in Belacevac offensive], June 30, 1998</ref> while another barricaded itself inside the mine's management building and workshops.<ref name="BBC1"/> By 1 July, the mine was back in Yugoslav hands.<ref name="BBC2">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=Serbs re-take Kosovo mine|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/123661.stm|date=1 July 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> The VJ and MUP apparently used [[tear gas]] to dislodge the militants from their positions.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Los Angeles Times|title=Serbs Launch Offensive To Retake Mining Town From Kosovo Guerrillas|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-06-30/news/9806300065_1_belacevac-serb-sources-ethnic-albanian-sources|date=30 June 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> The town and its vicinity were largely abandoned by both Albanians and Serbs, and by fighting's end, more than 8,000 civilians had been displaced.<ref name="NYT1"/><ref name="Irish Times"/>


==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==
The battle resulted in the deaths of 10 KLA militants.<ref name="Routledge"/> The Yugoslavs reported suffering no casualties.<ref name="The Times"/> The KLA claimed two Kosovo Albanian civilians—an eight-year-old boy and a man—were killed in the clashes, and six injured.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Hurriyet Daily News|title=KLA rebels regroup in west Kosovo|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/kla-rebels-regroup-in-west-kosovo.aspx?pageID=438&n=kla-rebels-regroup-in-west-kosovo-1998-07-02|date=2 July 1998|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref> Yugoslav authorities confirmed that an eight-year-old boy had been killed in shelling near the town.<ref name="BBC1"/> By 2 July, the mine was reportedly back in operation.<ref name="RFE"/> The same day, Western journalists attempting to enter Belaćevac were attacked by a mob of angry Serb civilians.<ref name="NYT1"/>
In June 1999, after the Kumanovo Agreement was signed, the Yugoslavs withdrew from the mine, leading to its immediate re-capture by the Albanians.<ref>Hughes, Candice. [[Associated Press]], "KLA captures Mine, Hostages near Pristina", June 13, 1998</ref>


Eleven years after the battle, the ''Association of the Families of Kidnapped and Missing Miners of Belaćevac'' set up a demonstration in the region demanding answers about the fate of the workers captured in the KLA's initial capture of the mine.<ref>Radio Srbija, [http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=13&Itemid=26&limit=15&limitstart=105 A gathering in Gracanica in memory of Serbs kidnapped in Kosmet 11 years ago], June 22, 2009</ref>
Upon re-entering the mine, Yugoslav authorities found that the hostages had vanished, apparently taken by the group of KLA fighters that had retreated from Belaćevac prior to its capture. They are thought to have been executed by the militants.<ref name="The Times"/> The families of the missing mineworkers have since set up an organization dedicated to bringing the kidnappers to justice and if possible, locating their remains.<ref>Radio Srbija, [http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=13&Itemid=26&limit=15&limitstart=105 A gathering in Gracanica in memory of Serbs kidnapped in Kosmet 11 years ago], June 22, 2009</ref> The mineworkers' whereabouts are unknown as of June 2014, as is the location of their remains (if any). No one has been convicted of their deaths.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Radio Television of Serbia|title=Godišnjica otmice rudara na Kosovu|trans_title=Anniversary of miners' kidnapping in Kosovo|language=Serbian|url=http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Dru%C5%A1tvo/1628332/Godi%C5%A1njica+otmice+rudara+na+Kosovu.html|date=20 June 2014|accessdate=16 November 2015}}</ref>


== References ==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|2}}


{{coord missing|Kosovo}}
{{coord missing|Kosovo}}

Revision as of 05:57, 16 November 2015

Battle of Belaćevac Mine
Part of the Kosovo War
Date23 June – 1 July 1998
(1 week and 1 day)
Location
Belaćevac, Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Result Decisive Yugoslav victory[1]
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Strength
30 Hundreds
Casualties and losses
10 killed None
9 Serb mineworkers executed
2 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed, 6 wounded and c. 8,000 displaced

The Battle of Belaćevac Mine (Albanian: Beteja e Bardhit të Madh; Serbo-Croatian: Bitka za Belaćevački rudnik; Cyrillic: Битка за Белаћевачки рудник) was a week-long clash between the Yugoslav Army (VJ), Serbian police (MUP) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in June 1998, during the Kosovo War. It was fought over the Belaćevac coal mine, which powered two generating stations that supplied electricity to most of Kosovo.

The KLA seized the mine on 22 June, taking nine Serb mineworkers hostage, converting the mine into a base of operations and taunting the Yugoslav authorities by sending daylight patrols within sight of the provincial capital, Pristina. Over the next seven days, Yugoslav authorities and the KLA negotiated over the fate of the mineworkers. Once negotiations broke down, the VJ and MUP attacked the mine and forced the KLA out. Ten militants were killed in the clashes. The VJ and MUP reported suffering no casualties. Though the mine was recaptured, the hostages were nowhere to be found, and it is assumed they were killed by the militants. As of June 2014, the location of the mineworkers' remains is unknown. No one has ever been convicted of their deaths.

Background

Following World War II, Kosovo was given the status of an autonomous province within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, one of six constitutional republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[2] After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader (Josip Broz Tito) in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel.[3] In 1989, Belgrade revoked Kosovo's autonomy.[4] Kosovo, a province inhabited predominantly by ethnic Albanians, was of great historical and cultural significance to Serbs,[5] who had formed a majority there before the mid-19th century, but by 1990 represented only about 10 percent of the population.[6] Alarmed by their dwindling numbers, the province's Serbs began to fear that they were being "squeezed out" by the Albanians, and ethnic tensions worsened.[7] As soon as Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Serbian President Slobodan Milošević to oversee the province, enforced by thousands of heavily armed paramilitaries from Serbia-proper. Albanian culture was systematically repressed and hundreds of thousands of Albanians working in state-owned companies lost their jobs.[4]

In 1996, a group of Albanian nationalists calling themselves the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking the Yugoslav Army (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Vojska Jugoslavije; VJ) and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova; MUP) in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of Yugoslavia, which following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991–92, was just a rump federation consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. At first, the KLA carried out hit-and-run attacks (31 in 1996, 55 in 1997, and 66 in January and February 1998 alone).[8] It quickly gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom rejected the non-violent resistance to Yugoslav authorities advocated by the politician Ibrahim Rugova and favoured a more aggressive approach.[9] The organization received a significant boost in 1997, when an armed uprising in neighbouring Albania led to thousands of weapons from the Albanian Army's depots being looted. Many of these weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA, which already had substantial resources due its involvement in the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people, as well as through donations from the Albanian diaspora.[10]

The KLA's popularity skyrocketed after the VJ and MUP attacked the compound of KLA leader Adem Jashari in March 1998, killing him, his closest associates and most of his family. The attack prompted thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the ranks of the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.[11]

Battle

Power plants outside of Obilić

On 22 June 1998, the KLA seized the Belaćevac open-pit coal mine, near the town of Obilić.[12] Located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Kosovan capital, Pristina, Belaćevac was strategically important because it supplied coal to two of Kosovo's most important power plants, which in turn provided electricity to most of province.[13] The attack represented the most serious challenge to the Yugoslav establishment since fighting erupted earlier in the year, not only because of the mine's strategic significance but also because of its close proximity to Pristina.[14][15] Upon entering the mine, the militants took a number of Serb mineworkers hostage, halting production.[14] Human Rights Watch identified the nine captives as Dušan Ađančić, Pero Ađančić, Zoran Ađančić, Mirko Buha, Filip Gojković, Božidar Lempić, Srboljub Savić, Mirko Trifunović and Dragan Vukmirović.[12] Some of the militants were armed with automatic weapons, but most carried hunting rifles. There were about 30 fighters in all, most wearing civilian clothes.[16] "Some of the guerrillas were no more than boys with single-shot rifles," wrote journalist Jeffrey Fleishman. "Others were brawny men with handlebar mustaches, ammunition belts and bayonets." Fleishman described them as "jittery and weary", and noted that they did not even have walkie-talkies.[17]

The fighters soon erected roadblocks, checkpoints and anti-sniper screens. Their heaviest weapons were two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and a 50 mm (2.0 in) machine gun.[16] They then forced the mineworkers to dig trenches separating the KLA from Yugoslav positions.[18] Soon after the mine was taken, Yugoslav authorities entered into negotiations with the KLA over the fate of the hostages.[12] The Yugoslavs also erected roadblocks of their own, closed off the road leading to Belaćevac, and surrounded the mine with snipers.[17]

Negotiations between the authorities and the KLA over the fate of the hostages apparently broke down just prior to the Yugoslav counterattack.[18] Backed by armoured vehicles, artillery and a number of tanks,[19] hundreds of VJ and MUP personnel moved to recapture Belaćevac beginning on 29 June.[20] By the first day, Yugoslav forces had advanced to within 600 feet (180 m) of the mine. Yugoslav officials explained that the VJ and MUP were deliberately advancing slowly in order to avoid taking casualties, and alleged that the militants were using the mineworkers as human shields.[21] One group of militants soon completely withdrew from Belaćevac,[22] while another barricaded itself inside the mine's management building and workshops.[13] By 1 July, the mine was back in Yugoslav hands.[23] The VJ and MUP apparently used tear gas to dislodge the militants from their positions.[24] The town and its vicinity were largely abandoned by both Albanians and Serbs, and by fighting's end, more than 8,000 civilians had been displaced.[14][15]

Aftermath

The battle resulted in the deaths of 10 KLA militants.[20] The Yugoslavs reported suffering no casualties.[18] The KLA claimed two Kosovo Albanian civilians—an eight-year-old boy and a man—were killed in the clashes, and six injured.[25] Yugoslav authorities confirmed that an eight-year-old boy had been killed in shelling near the town.[13] By 2 July, the mine was reportedly back in operation.[22] The same day, Western journalists attempting to enter Belaćevac were attacked by a mob of angry Serb civilians.[14]

Upon re-entering the mine, Yugoslav authorities found that the hostages had vanished, apparently taken by the group of KLA fighters that had retreated from Belaćevac prior to its capture. They are thought to have been executed by the militants.[18] The families of the missing mineworkers have since set up an organization dedicated to bringing the kidnappers to justice and if possible, locating their remains.[26] The mineworkers' whereabouts are unknown as of June 2014, as is the location of their remains (if any). No one has been convicted of their deaths.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ "Serb forces retake Kosovo Mine". Associated Press. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  2. ^ Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2.
  3. ^ Judah, pp. 38–9
  4. ^ a b Adam LeBor (2002). "Milosevic: A Biography". New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-300-10317-5.
  5. ^ Miranda Vickers (1999). "The Albanians: A Modern History". New York: I.B.Tauris. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
  6. ^ James Summers (2011). "Kosovo: From Yugoslav Province to Disputed Independence". In James Summers (ed.). Kosovo: A Precedent?. Leiden, Netherlands: BRILL. p. 5. ISBN 978-90-474-2943-2.
  7. ^ Jasminka Udovički; James Ridgeway (2000). Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8223-2590-1.
  8. ^ Judah, p. 137
  9. ^ Dušan Janjić (2012). "Kosovo under the Milošević Regime". In Charles W. Ingrao; Thomas A. Emmert (eds.). Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars' Initiative (2 ed.). West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-55753-617-4.
  10. ^ Judah, pp. x, 127–30
  11. ^ Judah, pp. 138–41
  12. ^ a b c Fred Abrahams; Elizabeth Andersen (1998). Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo. New York: Human Rights Watch. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-56432-194-7.
  13. ^ a b c "New Serb offensive in Kosovo". BBC. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d Chris Hedges (30 June 1998). "Serbians Unleash Series of Heavy Attacks Against Albanian Separatists". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Animals take over village that changed hands twice". The Irish Times. 2 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  16. ^ a b Tom Hundley (29 June 1998). "Kosovo's Conflict At Doorsteps Of Capital". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  17. ^ a b Jeffrey Fleishman (2 July 1998). "A Ragged Army Fights For Kosovo: Poorly Armed Ethnic Albanian Guerrillas Continue Battling Much Larger Serbian Forces". The Philadelphia Inquirer. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  18. ^ a b c d Tom Walker (1 July 1998). "Guerrillas in Kosovo 'killed mine hostages'". The Times.
  19. ^ The Independent New offensive dashes ceasefire hope, June 30, 1998
  20. ^ a b Adrian Webb (2008). The Routledge Companion to Central and Eastern Europe Since 1919. London: Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-13406-521-9.
  21. ^ Chris Hedges (1 July 1998). "Fierce Fighting as Serbs Try to Push Rebels From Kosovo Town". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  22. ^ a b Radio Free Europe, Serbia claims success in Belacevac offensive, June 30, 1998
  23. ^ "Serbs re-take Kosovo mine". BBC. 1 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  24. ^ "Serbs Launch Offensive To Retake Mining Town From Kosovo Guerrillas". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  25. ^ "KLA rebels regroup in west Kosovo". Hurriyet Daily News. 2 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  26. ^ Radio Srbija, A gathering in Gracanica in memory of Serbs kidnapped in Kosmet 11 years ago, June 22, 2009
  27. ^ "Godišnjica otmice rudara na Kosovu" (in Serbian). Radio Television of Serbia. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

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