Battle of Belaćevac Mine

Battle of Belaćevac Mine
Part of the Obilić, Yugoslavia
Result	Yugoslav victory[1]

Belligerents  Kosovo Liberation Army  YugoslaviaStrength 30 men 100 menCasualties and losses 10 killed None 9 Serb mineworkers abducted, presumed dead
2 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed, 6 wounded and c. 8,000 displaced.

The Battle of Belaćevac Mine

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 presumed 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

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.^[13]

Battle

On 22 June 1998, the KLA seized the

The KLA taunted the authorities by sending daylight patrols within sight of Pristina.[20] The fighters set up roadblocks, checkpoints and anti-sniper screens. Their heaviest weapons were two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and a 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine gun.^[18] They forced the mineworkers to dig trenches separating the KLA from Yugoslav positions.^[21] Soon after the mine was taken, Yugoslav authorities entered into negotiations with the KLA over the fate of the hostages.^[14] The Yugoslavs also erected roadblocks of their own, closed off the road leading to Belaćevac, and surrounded the mine with snipers.^[19] About 100 VJ personnel were involved in the battle.^[22]

Negotiations between the authorities and the KLA over the fate of the hostages apparently broke down just prior to the Yugoslav counterattack.^[21] Backed by armoured vehicles, artillery and a number of tanks,^[20] hundreds of VJ and MUP personnel moved to recapture Belaćevac beginning on 29 June.^[23] 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.^[24] One group of militants soon completely withdrew from Belaćevac,^[25] while another barricaded itself inside the mine's management building and workshops.^[15] By 1 July, the mine was back in Yugoslav hands.^[26] The VJ and MUP apparently used tear gas to dislodge the militants from their positions.^[27] 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.^[16][17]

Aftermath

The battle resulted in the deaths of 10 KLA militants.^[23][28] The Yugoslavs reported suffering no casualties.^[21] The KLA claimed two Kosovo Albanian civilians—an eight-year-old boy and a man—were killed in the clashes, and six injured.^[29] Yugoslav authorities confirmed that an eight-year-old boy had been killed in shelling near the town.^[15] By 1 July, the mine was reportedly back in operation.^[25] The same day, Western journalists attempting to enter Belaćevac were attacked by a mob of angry Serb civilians.^[16]

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.^[21] Their families have since set up an organization dedicated to bringing the kidnappers to justice, and if possible, locating the missing mineworkers' remains.^[30] The mineworkers' whereabouts are unknown as of June 2014, as is the location of their remains. No one has been convicted of their deaths.^[31]

Footnotes

References

1. ^ "Serb forces retake Kosovo Mine". Associated Press. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
2. ^ Judah 2002, p. 34.
3. ^ Judah 2002, pp. 38–39.
4. ^
   ISBN 978-0-300-10317-5
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5. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9
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6. ISBN 978-90-474-2943-2
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7. ISBN 978-0-8223-2590-1
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8. ^ Judah 2002, p. 137.
9. ISBN 978-1-55753-617-4
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10. ^ Judah 2002, pp. 127–130.
11. ISBN 978-1-84545-560-6
    .
12. ISBN 978-0-81224-565-3
    .
13. ^ Judah 2002, pp. 138–141.
14. ^
    ISBN 978-1-56432-194-7
    .
15. ^ ^{a b c} "New Serb offensive in Kosovo". BBC. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
16. ^ ^{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.
17. ^ ^{a b} "Animals take over village that changed hands twice". The Irish Times. 2 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
18. ^ ^{a b} Tom Hundley (29 June 1998). "Kosovo's Conflict At Doorsteps Of Capital". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
19. ^ ^{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. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
20. ^ ^{a b} Rupert Cornwell (29 June 1998). "New offensive dashes ceasefire hopes". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
21. ^ ^{a b c d} Tom Walker (1 July 1998). "Guerrillas in Kosovo 'killed mine hostages'". The Times.
22. ISBN 9781873328316
    .
23. ^
    ISBN 978-1-13406-521-9
    .
24. ^ Chris Hedges (1 July 1998). "Fierce Fighting as Serbs Try to Push Rebels From Kosovo Town". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
25. ^ ^{a b} "Serbia claims success in Belacevac offensive". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 1 July 1998. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
26. ^ "Serbs re-take Kosovo mine". BBC. 1 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
27. ^ "Serbs Launch Offensive To Retake Mining Town From Kosovo Guerrillas". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
28. ^ Crowfort, Orlando; Chup, Andjelka; Savic, Dragana (3 March 2021). "Twenty years on, the disappeared still cast shadows in northern Kosovo". Euronews. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
29. ^ "KLA rebels regroup in west Kosovo". Hurriyet Daily News. 2 July 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
30. ^ "A gathering in Gracanica in memory of Serbs kidnapped in Kosmet 11 years ago". Voice of Serbia. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
31. ^ "Godišnjica otmice rudara na Kosovu" [Anniversary of miners' kidnapping in Kosovo] (in Serbian). Radio Television of Serbia. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.

Works cited

• Judah, Tim (1 January 2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2
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42°41′24″N 21°04′40″E / 42.69000°N 21.07778°E / 42.69000; 21.07778