Attacks on Smonica

A series of armed engagements occurred in and around the village of Smonica, near Đakovica, during the Kosovo War. It was fought between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) along with the Yugoslav Army (VJ), and lasted from 6 April to 2 August 1998.

The attacks occurred roughly one month after the attack on Prekaz. The fighting was apart of a wider escalation of the war in the Dukagjin region, around the Đakovica-Dečani-Peć motorway. The attacks ended after the KLA withdrawal to Albania in August, after the village had been destroyed.

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. After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader (Josip Broz Tito) in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel. In 1989, Belgrade revoked Kosovo's autonomy. Kosovo, a province inhabited predominantly by ethnic Albanians, was of great historical and cultural significance to Serbs, who had formed a majority there before the mid-19th century, but by 1990 represented only about 10 percent of the population. 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. 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.

In 1996, a group of Albanian nationalists calling themselves the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking the Yugoslav Army (; VJ) and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (; MUP) in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of Yugoslavia, which following the separation 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). 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. 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. The KLA also received substantial funds from its involvement in the drug trade.

The KLA's popularity skyrocketed after the VJ and MUP attacked the compound of KLA leader Adem Jashari in March 1998, [...] 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.

Prelude

Smonica (; Albanian: Smolica or Smolicë) is a village in southwest Kosovo. It is located roughly seven miles to the west of Đakovica, near the border of Albania. In 1997, the village of Smonica began being mobilized by Agron Rama. By early 1998, a KLA unit was formed in Smonica under Rama. Smonica was one of the first villages to join the KLA in the Gjakova municipality. Militants in Smonica under Agron Rama and in contact with the Dukagjin Operational Zone command, formed the first KLA cells and Smonica became one of the principal bases through which weapons were supplied into Kosovo. By the end of February 1998, KLA leader Ramush Haradinaj had created a base in Smonica. In retaliation for the attack on the Jeshari compound in February, the KLA ambushed a Yugoslav convoy near Smonica on 22 March 1998. In response, Milošević launched a counterinsurgency campaign.

Events

The attacks on Smonica began on 6 April, during an assault on the village by the VJ and MUP. That day, the first front line against Yugoslav forcess, which monitored and controlled the Albanian border, was opened in the village. The KLA retained control of the village, and subsequently expanded their control of territory, starting from Nec and extending to Junik. On 3 May, a police convoy was attacked by KLA fighters near the village of Smonica. 4 policemen were wounded during the attack. On the same day, fighting broke out in Ponoševac, lasting until 6 May. On May 25, the Reka e Keqe region, which included the villages of Smonica, Morina, Popoc, and Ponoshec, were shelled by the VJ. Several homes in Smonica were damaged during the shelling.

On 8 June, the VJ shelled the Reka e Keqe region, beginning an attack supported by helicopters. The KLA put up resistance to the attacks. The following day, 9 June, a VJ convoy attempted to enter Smonica, and was ambushed. Two armoured vehicles and three soldiers were killed. Another convoy, made up of 10 busloads of troops departed Gjakova for the Reka e Keqe region, on 10 June. Later that day, shelling began on the villages, which ceased at around 22:30, only to resume during the morning of 11 June. The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) information commission in Gjakova stated that military aircraft were seen over the city during the day. 37 houses in Popoc were burned down or destroyed during the shelling. The shelling lasted until 14 June. A ten-year old Albanian child was killed after an airstrike was launched. The KLA launched a retaliatory attack in response, destroying a Yugoslav tank. A Washington Post report on 23 June stated that Yugoslav forces fired mortar rounds at Smonica, and that a Yugoslav Army tank stationed outside the village was observed exchanging fire with guerrillas. On 25 June, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Smonica endured a second day of shelling. The shelling began the previous day and lasted throughout the night, continuing into the next day. 22 refugees arrived into Albania, after the flow halted amid the shelling over the days prior.

On June 28, 1998, 13 fighters were sent as reinforcements to the Smonica village headquarters by the Dukagjin Plain Operational Staff.

On 2 August 1998, Yugoslav forces launched an offensive against KLA positions in the area of Smonica. A Priština Corps Command decision ordered the attack against KLA forces in the general sector of Smonica, with the main forces advancing along the Korenica–Donji Nec–Smonica axis. The operation was intended to destroy KLA forces, seize Stubla and Donji Nec, secure the Ramoc sector, and reopen the Đakovica–Ponoševac–Batuša road. In the early morning, Smonica was attacked. The fighting continued until approximately 19:00, when Albanian families were evacuated from the village. On 3 August, it was reported that Smonica fell to Yugoslav police units.