The Battles of Ješkovo were a series of battles that occurred throughout the Kosovo War. There were two main battles, fought between the insurgent Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and the Yugoslav forces, composed mainly of Police units.
Background.
On July 7, 1998, Yugoslav forces failed to liquidate a KLA unit in Billushë and Hoçë e Qytetit, near the area of Vërrin in the District of Prizren, but were forced to retreat. During the clashes, the KLA managed to blow up a Yugoslav jeep in front of a school. The Yugoslav army and police pledged retaliation for the clashes, strategizing an offensive against KLA positions in what had been declared a KLA free zone. This led to the start of the initial clashes during the Kosovo War in the area of the District of Prizren.
First battle.
On 16 July 1998, around 1:30 PM, the first battles occurred in the area of Vërrin. The Yugoslav forces tried to enter from the Tusus neighborhood, in the direction of Leskovec, Lybeçeva, and towards the village of Hoçë e Qytetit. KLA forces started attacking the Yugoslav forces with a column of 50 armored vehicles, and both sides kept fighting. The first day of confrontation between the two forces lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes. On the part of the KLA soldiers, there were neither killed nor injured, while the Yugoslav forces were separated with losses. In these battles, the KLA fighters took control over the nearby villages, including Ješkovo. After the Battle of Rahovec, KLA forces were forced to abandon all nearby strongholds and fortifications, but they kept position near Ješkovo, where the headquarters of the 125th Brigade of Prizren was situated. Then, Hysen Rexhepi and his soldiers went to Albania to rearm for future operations in the area, like the Battles of Vërrin and the Battle of Lez.
Second battle.
On 11 March 1999, Yugoslav forces of the 549th Motorized Brigade marched towards Ješkovo, with the goal of retaking the city. Yugoslav soldiers and policemen, after several hours of hard climbing towards the hills around the village, arrive at these inaccessible peaks, thus they gained advantage over the KLA positions. The Serbian forces were at an altitude of 1,176 meters, while the village of Ješkovo and the 125th Brigade's headquarters were located 600 meters lower. During the following fight that ensured, General Božidar Delić is said to have ordered to “make an effort not to let anyone remain alive” or “leave no one alive”, by witnesses called "K32" and "K41". According to another witness, "K58", Delić summoned his unit and said that they were ordered "to go and cleanse Ješkovo the next day". The same Witness claimed that General Stojan Konjikovac was "in charge" of executing these actions. The Yugoslav operation was successful, capturing Ješkovo back from the KLA and leaving 9 killed insurgents on their side while only suffering 3 wounded policemen. Because of this operation, 500 inhabitants of the village of Ljubicevo left and migrated to other villages.
The "K32" and "K41" controversy.
"K32" was a "protected witness" who fought under Delić in Kosovo. Both "K32" and "K41" are said to have fought in the Battle of Ješkovo. "K32" claimed that Delić ordered that no one should be left alive, and that the whole purpose of the Ješkovo operation was to kill civilians. “This is pure fabrication by this soldier who was prepped to say this", Delić said. When the prosecutor asked him "who prepped the witness", Delić replied: "You are prepping your witnesses." The judges asked the witness to state the basis for his claim, and when he failed to do so, they cautioned him for "presenting unsubstantiated claims". The witness then apologized to the prosecutor and said that witness "K32" was "prepped by some Albanians in Peć". Delić has also denied the claim of him ordering to "leave no one alive". Be that as it may, the prosecutor claims the outcome of the Ješkovo operation "was consistent with the order to leave no one alive", as all 9 KLA members were killed and there were no prisoners. General Delić, again, rejects this "insinuation", claiming this was a "special KLA unit" composed of "hardened terrorists of the kind that does not surrender." The prosecutor then went on to discuss some other operations conducted by Delić's units in which a substantial number of KLA members had been killed and no prisoners had been taken. A military document signed by Delić states that in the course of the operation near the village of Kabash, "the Siptar terrorist forces did not throw down their weapons until the last moment, when they changed into civilian clothes and tried to break out of the encirclement." They ran into the siege line where 11 were killed and none were captured. On the basis of what was written there, the judges concluded that those had been "unarmed terrorists in disguise who tried to escape but ran into an ambush," but Delić claimed they had all been "killed in combat, with their weapons in their hands or on their backs." "K41" claimed that he personally saw about a dozen civilians who had been killed and that he learned the next day that there had been about 30 casualties. General Delić dismissed all of their allegations as nonsense. Delić also pointed out that "K32" was 3 kilometers away (where his brigade's headquarters was located) during the operation at Ješkovo, which meant that he was out of earshot anyway. The final proof that "K41" and "K32" were lying came in the form of a report of the OSCE/KVM regarding the Ješkovo operation. General Delić showed the befuddled prosecutor the part of the report that explained how KVM monitors found the dead bodies of uniformed KLA soldiers in the village, not civilians. Delić also went on to explain how "K32" was a criminal who hid out at "K41"'s house. Given the connection between "K41" and "K32", and the manifestly false nature of their testimony, Delić theorized that "K32" and "K41" may have been coached to give false testimony. This obvious conclusion ruffled some feathers at the tribunal, and drew angry reactions from the prosecutor and the judges.
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References.
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