December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
Battle of the Kosovo War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
On December 14, 1998, the Yugoslav Army (VJ) ambushed a group of 140 Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) militants attempting to smuggle weapons and supplies from their base in Albania into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A five-hour battle ensued, ending with the deaths of 36 militants and the capture of a further nine. Dozens more fled back to Albania, abandoning large quantities of weapons and supplies, which the Yugoslav authorities subsequently seized. The ambush was the most serious war-related incident in Kosovo since a U.S.-negotiated truce took effect two months before. It came on the heels of increasing tensions in the province, where inter-ethnic violence had been escalating steadily since early 1995.
December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Kosovo War | |||||||
Weapons confiscated from the Kosovo Liberation Army, 1999 (Not all are shown in the picture) | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Yugoslav Army | Kosovo Liberation Army | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | 140 militants | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None |
36 killed 12 wounded 9 captured | ||||||
Within hours, a group of primarily unknown, but suspected KLA gunmen attacked a Serb-owned café in Peć, killing six unarmed Serb youths. Western diplomats suspected the attack was carried out in retaliation for the ambush, though the KLA denied any responsibility. Many years later, the Serbian government would admit that the massacre was a black operation done by the Serbian secret service.[1]
Several days later after the ambush, Yugoslav authorities returned the bodies of all but three of the fallen militants following mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The militants were given heroes' funerals in a rebel-held area, in a ceremony attended by thousands of ethnic Albanians, including other KLA fighters. In January 1999, the KLA abducted eight VJ personnel, who were later exchanged for the nine militants captured in the ambush.