Kosovar War of Independence 1998-1999

After the Serbian government stripped Kosovo of its autonomous status in 1989 a campaign of nonviolent resistance was launched by the mainly ethnic Albanian population. Serbia responded by intensifying its policy of political, economic and social oppression of ethnic Albanians. International attention to events in Kosovo was lacking and prospects for peaceful change were increasingly questioned by 1995, after the successful cessation of Slovenia, Croatia and, then, Bosnia-Herzegovina as a result of violent resistance and an internationally negotiated settlement. The first indications of this change in direction was the announcement of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on November 17, 1994 but the lack of popular support for an armed uprising during the next three years was adequately demonstrated by the KLA still numbering less than 200 fighters in November 1997. Nonetheless, the KLA did get assistance from Albania and the Albanian diaspora and it launched numerous attacks on police stations and other government targets in Kosovo. The Serbian government retaliated by killing Kosovars believed to support the KLA which generated international attention. On February 23, 1998, an American diplomat, Robert Gelbart, while in Kosovo referred to the KLA as a terrorist group. It is widely believed the comment was interpreted by the Serbian government as an indication of American support for its counter-insurgency operations in Kosovo. On February 28, 1998, Yugoslavian military forces and Serbian police forces killed a number of KLA fighters and more civilians using what observers felt was excessive force and generally marking the beginning of the war.

Another operation on March 5th, against a known KLA stronghold that contained many women and children, solidified international opposition to the conduct of the Yugoslavian counter-insurgency. The impact within Kosovo was a dramatic shift in popular opinion reflected by the expansion of the KLA to over 10,000 volunteers in the following months. Fighting spread throughout Kosovo. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1199, demanding a cease-fire and withdrawal of troops, on September 23rd; the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in October 1998 that more than 1,500 Kosovar Albanians had been killed and 300,000 people were internally displaced while warning the humanitarian crisis would spread beyond Kosovo. Intense negotiations with the Yugoslavian government led to its agreement to accept Resolution 1199 and the deployment of unarmed Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers on October 13th, under threat of NATO airstrikes. The agreement failed hold for very long though some Kosovar Albanians began to return to their homes during this time.

On January 15, 1999, Yugoslavian forces retaliated for a KLA attack on police officers with what was considered to be a massacre of Kosovar Albanians. The foreign ministers of the Contact Group (France, Germany, Italy, Russia, UK and USA) called for peace talks but the effort fails to produce an agreement. The UNHCR reported that by the middle of March about 150,000 to 200,000 civilians had been forced from their homes because of the violence. On March 19th Yugoslavian troops began to mass on the border of Kosovo. The following day, the OSCE observers left Kosovo as Yugoslavian military forces began a new offensive aimed at securing Kosovo. After a NATO ultimatum failed to restore peace, NATO launched airstrikes on March 24th against Serbian and Yugoslavian targets. The KLA took advantage of the bombing campaign to accelerate its war on the ground. Yugoslavian forces began what appeared to be an ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosovo, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands. Although the destructiveness of the NATO airstrikes was disputed, tensions mounted between the Russia and NATO in April. Frustrated by the continued resistance of the Yugoslavian government, about 48,000 NATO ground troops had been massed in Macedonia by the end of May; although this contingent was officially designated to be deployed as a peacekeeping force in Kosovo, an invasion was also being considered by NATO. After a week of negotiation prompted by a Yugoslavian expressed willingness to accept NATO demands, an agreement was signed on June 9, 1999 ending the warfare.

With the cessation of hostilities, the more than half million Kosovar Albanian refugees rapidly returned to their homes as NATO troops entered Kosovo a peacekeepers. Meanwhile, some 200,000 Kosovar Serbs and Roma fled to Serbia and Montenegro in well-founded fear of reprisals. The KLA agreed to disarm under pressure from NATO. Although the status of Kosovo remains officially unresolved, its government declared independence in 2008 and gained recognition from many countries. Russia and Serbia, in particular, do not recognize Kosovar independence.

Notes

[1] Correlates of War (CoW) divides the war into an intra-state war (900: February 28, 1998 to March 23, 1999), ending the day before NATO airstrikes began, and an inter-state war (221: March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1995). Most other sources treat the war as a whole.

[2] CoW lists France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America.

[3] KMB reports 2,131 fighters (including the KLA) and 10,812 ethnic Albanian civilians killed during the war. The numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. CoW reports 800 KLA fighters killed during the intra-state war.

[4] KMB reports 1,084 Serbian forces (presumably including Yugoslavian forces) killed, 2,197 Kosovar Serb and Serbian civilians killed, and 526 Roma and other civilians killed. The numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. CoW reports 400 Yugoslavian battle deaths for the intra-state war and 5,000 Yugoslavia battle deaths (possibly based on initial NATO estimates) for the inter-state war.

References

Bekaj, 12-26; COW221, 900; EB - Kosovo Conflict; Kohn, 262-3; KMB.

Armend R Bekaj. The KLA and the Kosovo War: From Intra-State Conflict to Independent Country. Berghof Conflict Research. 2010.

KMB http://www.kosovomemorybook.org

Category

Inter-State War^[1]

Region

Eastern Europe

Belligerents

Yugoslavia, Kosovo, NATO^[2]

Dispute

Territory, Interests

Initiation Date

February 28, 1998

Termination Date

June 10, 1999

Duration

1 year, 3 months, 14 days
(468 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(Kosovar victory)

Fatalities

Total: 3,000/11,000
Kosovo: 2,000/9,000^[3]
Yugoslavia: 1,000/2,000^[4]
NATO: 2

Magnitude

4.1