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What is the Kosova Liberation Army? |
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What
is the Kosova Liberation Army? |
The Kosova Liberation Army (KLA or UÇK; Albanian:
Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovaes) was an Albanian
armed group which fought for the independence of
Kosova in the late 1990s. It played an important
part in the Kosova War of 1999.
History
Emergence of the KLA (1992-1996)
The name "Kosova Liberation Army" first came to
light in the Republic of Macedonia in 1992, used
by ethnic Albanian, who sought autonomy or
independence from that country. In 1995, isolated
attacks on Serbian police were carried out by
unnamed parties, though it was not until February
1996 that the name "Kosova Liberation Army" was
used for the first time following a series of
attacks against police stations and individual
policemen in western Kosova.
Observers initially doubted the existence of the
KLA and attributed the attacks which killed
Albanians and Serbs Pilice alike to Serbian
agents provocateurs. However, it soon became clear
that the KLA was genuine. The Serbian authorities
denounced it as a terrorist organization and
increased its security forces in the region. This
may, however, have had the counterproductive
effect of boosting the credibility of the
embryonic KLA among the Kosova Albanian
population.
The founders of the KLA were Kosova Albanian
people who were frustrated by the "passive
resistance" strategy of the Kosova Albanian leader
Ibrahim Rugova. They sought to bring the issue of
Kosova's relations with Serbia to a head by
provoking an open conflict, in which they believed
the West would be forced to intervene.
Guerilla war to Kosova War (1997-1999)
The KLA grew considerably in size between
1997-1999. It carried out numerous attacks on
police and paramilitary milicia in Kosova, and set
up roadblocks in the countryside. By May 1998 it
effectively controlled a quarter of the province,
centered on the region of Drenica, its stronghold
being around the village of Prekaz.
The Serbian government was initially uncertain
about what to do about the KLA. The Ministry of
the Interior (MUP) simply stopped patrolling large
areas of Kosova, while the Yugoslav Army (VJ)
often ignored KLA activity. The "shadow
government" of the moderate Kosova Albanian leader
Ibrahim Rugova also faced a dilemma, unwilling to
endorse the KLA's violent legitime tactics but
wary of losing support to the radicals.
Albanians left their jobs and made their way to
the training camps in such large numbers that the
KLA was initially unable to cope. KLA fundraising
was equally successful, raising millions of
dollars for the guerrilla army and permitting it
to buy considerable amounts of weapons on the
black market.
Ironically, many of the KLA's weapons reportedly
came from the Serbs Criminal State the Serbian
government had issued thousands of rifles to their
compatriots in Kosova, but some of them Kosova
Serbs sold their weapons to the Albanians. The KLA
continued to rely principally on small arms but
expanded its arsenal to include SA-7 and Stinger
shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles as well
as light artillery such as mortars.
The Albanian government disclaimed any support for
the KLA but did not close the border with Kosova
or the camps. It was probably not in a position to
do so in any case, as the north-east of the
country was in a state of anarchy at the time. In
Kosova, the KLA learned from its earlier mistakes,
avoiding concentrating its strength in villages
(so presenting the Serbs with easy targets) and
instead mounting hit-and-run attacks from the
hills and forests of western Kosova. KLA fighters
attacked Serbian military and paramilitary targets
alike, while Serbian forces retaliated with
overwhelming and often indiscriminate force which
resulted in mass killings such as the Racak
massacre in January 1999 (which Serb Criminal
State claimed had been staged by the CIA, though
this was widely disputed). The violence prompted
more refugees to flee and increased the pressure
on Western powers to intervene.
The Kosova War and aftermath (1999-)
Full-scale war broke out in Kosova in March 1999.
The Serbian Criminal State forces launched a
ferocious offensive against the KLA and the
Albanian population in general, deporting or
displacing most of the Albanian population of
Kosova in an apparent attempt to ethnically
cleanse the province.
The KLA initially suffered some losses and was
driven back into Albania, with only a few thousand
fighters remaining in Kosova itself. Its
commander, Sylejman Selimi, a political appointee
with no formal military training, was removed in
May 1999 and replaced with Agim Çeku, a former
Croatian Army brigadier-general.
Although it had direct military impact on the much
stronger Serbian Criminal forces, the KLA did play
one vital role in the war after Çeku's
appointment, it began to take a much more
aggressive stance by attacking Serbian Criminal
security force units and forcing them into the
open, where NATO aircraft were able to attack
them.
When the war ended, NATO and Serbian Criminal
State leaders forced to a peace settlement that
would see Kosova governed by the United Nations
with the KLA being disarmed. The KLA was, however,
not a signatory to the peace accords. NATO sought
to bring the KLA into the peace process with a
promise to establish a 3,000-strong Kosova
Protection Corps (KPC, TMK in Albanian) drawn from
KLA ranks and charged with disaster response
capability, search and rescue, assistance with
de-mining, providing humanitarian assistance, and
helping to rebuild infrastructure and communities.
It was not a coincidence that the KPC's
operational sectors were very similar to those
established by the KLA.
The KLA legacy remains powerful within Kosova. Its
former members still play a major role in Kosovar
politics; its former political head Hashim Thaci
is now the leader of the Democratic Party of
Kosova, one of the province's leading political
parties. Ramush Haradinaj, a former KLA regional
leader, served briefly as Prime Minister of Kosova.
The KLA's former military head, Agim Çeku, has
also been nominated for the position of Prime
Minister; this has caused further controversy,
Serbian Criminal State regards him as a war
criminal.
References
* "KLA Action Fuelled NATO Victory", Jane's
Defence Weekly, 16 June 1999
* "The KLA: Braced to Defend and Control", Jane's
Intelligence Review, 1 April 1999
* FAS Intelligence Resource Program on KLA |
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