Yugoslav counter-offensive in Kosovo (1998)
| Yugoslav offensive in Kosovo | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kosovo War | |||||||||
Map of Kosovo | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| FR Yugoslavia |
Kosovo Liberation Army Mujahedeens Supported by: United States | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Slobodan Milosević Vladimir Lazarević Nebojša Pavković Vlastimir Đorđević Franko Simatović Goran Radosavljević Milorad Ulemek Sreten Lukić Goran Ostojić † |
Fatmir Limaj Gani Krasniqi Hisni Kiljaj Ramush Haradinaj Agim Ramadani Naim Maloku Fehmi Lladrovci † Samidin Xhezairi-Hoxha (WIA) Bekim Berisha † Agim Shala † Ismet Jashari † Selajdin Berisha † Bedri Shala † Elton Zherka † Përmet Vula † Alija Rabić † Abu Ismaili | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Yugoslav Army Serbian police MUP Special Police Units Special Operations Unit SAJ Special Forces Russian volunteers Air Force of Serbia and Montenegro | Several brigades | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
25,000–40,000 volunteers 15,000 MUP members 12,000 soldiers 52,000–67,000 in total |
25,000 militants 50–210 Mujahideen members | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 27 killed |
367–500+ killed Hundreds killed (Per Logos) | ||||||||
|
At least 2,000 total killed 100,000–300,000 Kosovo Albanians displaced | |||||||||
The Yugoslav Army and Serbian Police launched a major counter-offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in mid July, 1998. The offensive was backed by artillery, tanks and air support. The offensive had the goal of driving the KLA away from the positions it gained during the summer offensive. The Yugoslav offensive began with an attack on Orahovac and the recapture of the town by Yugoslav forces, which continued until 4 October. Ten days later, on October 14, the American diplomat Richard Holbrooke and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević signed a ceasefire agreement which resulted in the temporary withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo.