Battle of Glođane

Battle of Glođane
	Part of the Kosovo War
Date	First Phase: 24 March 1998; Second Phase: 11–12 August 1998
Location	Glođane, near Gjakova
Result	First battle: KLA victory; Second battle: Yugoslav victory Returned presence of the KLA forces
Belligerents
Yugoslavia	Kosovo Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Sreten Lukić	Ramush Haradinaj (WIA); Bekim Berisha; Xhezair Shaqiri
Strength
500 soldiers and policemen	250 militants
Casualties and losses
5 Policemen killed; 2 soldiers killed; 10 policemen wounded	7 killed; 49 wounded

The Battle of Glođane (Serbian: Битка за Глођане / Bitka za Glođane, Albanian: Beteja e Gllogjanit) was fought during the Kosovo War in the village of Glođane first on March 24, 1998, and again later on August 11, 1998. It involved the Kosovo Albanian militant group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Yugoslav military and Serbian police forces. The clashes signified a sequence of military offensives initiated by the Yugoslav army and Serbian police to counter the increasing presence of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) within Kosovo Albanian villages.^[7]

Background

In Kosovo, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) forces gained strength and tended to control villages away from the main roads while Yugoslav military forces were positioned on the hills around Lake Radonjić.^[8] Throughout the summer of 1998, Yugoslav forces shelled Albanian villages surrounding Lake Radonjić on a daily basis.^[9]

Clashes on 24 March 1998

After the Attack on Prekaz and the killings of KLA leaders Adem Jashari and his brother Hamëz Jashari, along with nearly 60 other family members, Yugoslav forces planned a similar attack on the village of Glođane, which was home to the Haradinaj clan.^[10]^[11] On March 24, 1998, hundreds of Yugoslav forces surrounded and besieged Glođane.^[12]^[13] The attack began several hours later, while police forces had been monitoring the movements of the Haradinaj Clan. The Yugoslav forces first attacked the House of the Haradinaj Clan and managed to advance to the courtyard, but had to retreat due to military resistance.^[12] KLA forces began to take up positions in the village and counter-attacked the Yugoslav forces which resulted in a Yugoslav withdrawal from the village.^[2]^[12]^[14]^[11]

During the battle, 2 KLA fighters and 1 Serbian officer were killed, while 3 Serbian officers and Ramush Haradinaj were wounded.^[10]^[11]^[15]

Clashes on 11–12 August 1998

The Yugoslav forces first broke through the KLA lines and entered Glođane around 10–11 August, 1998, as reported by BBC Correspondent Jeremey Cooke who was on the scene. He reported that the Serbs "knew they had the upper hand" and had "shelled and machine-gunned" the village of Glođane into submission.^[16] Cooke reported seeing houses shelled and livestock slaughtered to prevent rebels from reentering the village; the Serbian paramilitary police were involved in the operation.^[16]

The next military offensive involving Glođane occurred in the beginning of September.^[7] KLA forces had regrouped and in September, the Yugoslav military moved through the villages around the lake in order to attack and expel the KLA: Colonel John Crosland, an English military officer attached to the VJ, witnessed this first hand commented on the destruction caused by those forces.^[17] He noted that he personally witnessed the looting and burning of houses by Yugoslav forces and that the village of Prilep was razed to 18 inches about the ground.^[17] He stated that VJ forces, Serbian police forces and paramilitary police forces, including (MUP, PJP, SAJ) and JSO (Frenki's boys), were involved in the offensive.^[17]

Shortly after capturing Glođane, VJ forces withdrew from the village, resulting in a returned presence of KLA forces.^[18]

During the operation, KLA member Idriz Gashi murdered a civilian suspected of collaborating with Yugoslav police. Her body was dropped into the Radonjić Lake where, along with other bodies, was found in September 1998. Gashi was found guilty and was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Kosovo Supreme Court in 2010.^[19]