Battle of Podujevo | |||||||
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Part of the Kosovo War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Yugoslavia[1] | Kosovo Liberation Army | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sreten Lukić | Kadri Kastrati | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Special Anti-Terrorist Unit | Shala Operational Zone | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
250 policemen 13+ armored vehicles[5] T-55 and M-84 tanks[citation needed] | 25 militants[5] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed 6 wounded[6] 2 APC's destroyed[7] | 10 killed[8] |
The Battle of Podujevo (Albanian: Beteja e Tabeve te Llapashticës; Serbian: Битка код Подујева, Bitka kod Podujeva) was fought in the Kosovo War between the Yugoslav Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and KLA insurgents in the village of Llapashtica e Epërme in the municipality of Podujevo. These events started after the death of a policeman who was killed by KLA militants in the area.[9]
While the police fought ethnic-Albanian rebels along the road, other police units tried to enter rebel-controlled territory nearby and were caught in ambushes that left two armored personnel carriers destroyed and three officers wounded, Government officials said. The officials said rebels used a 120-millimeter mortar in the ambushes. Diplomats said the rebels conceded that the report about the size of the mortar was true, which means the rebels have much larger weapons than had been known. Smaller mortars were used in the combat on the main road, though it was unclear which side was using them. Heavy machine-gun fire poured from police units that commandeered a motel near the road. The police appeared to push back the attackers after about a half-hour. Diplomats said the rebels were in a mood to negotiate but remained in their positions.