The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (LAPMB; Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Preshevës, Medvegjës dhe Bujanocit, UÇPMB; Serbian: Ослободилачка војска Прешева, Медвеђе и Бујановца, ОВПМБ, romanized: Oslobodilačka vojska Preševa, Medveđe i Bujanovca, OVPMB) was an Albanian militant insurgent group fighting for separation from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for three municipalities: Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovac, home to most of the Albanians in south Serbia, adjacent to Kosovo. Of the three municipalities, two have an ethnic Albanian majority, whilst Medveđa has a significant minority of them.[3][4]
The UÇPMB's uniforms, procedures and tactics mirrored those of the then freshly disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The 1,500-strong paramilitary launched an insurgency in the Preševo Valley from 1999 to 2001, with the goal of joining these municipalities to Kosovo.[5] The EU condemned what it described as the "extremism" and use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group.[6]
Background
In 1992–1993, ethnic Albanians created the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)[7] which started attacking police forces and secret-service officials who abused Albanian civilians in 1995.[8] Starting in 1998, the KLA was involved in frontal battle, with increasing numbers of Yugoslav security forces. Escalating tensions led to the Kosovo War in February 1998.[9][10][11]
Between 21 June 1999 and 12 November 2000, 294 attacks were recorded. 246 in Bujanovac, 44 in Medveđa and 6 in Preševo. These attacks resulted in 14 people killed (of which six were civilians and eight were policemen), 37 people wounded (two UN observers, three civilians and 34 policemen) and five civilians kidnapped. In their attacks, UÇPMB used mostly assault rifles, machine guns, mortars and sniper rifles, but occasionally also RPGs, hand grenades, and anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.[15]
On 4 March 2000, around 500 UÇPMB fighters attacked the city of Dobrosin. The battle resulted in one UÇPMB and one Serb fighter killed,[17] while another 175 were displaced.[18] On 21 November 2000, members of the UÇPMB attacked the city of Dobrosin and the surrounding villages. Heavy fighting resulted in the VJ retreating to Končulj, Lučane, and Bujanovac.[19][20] After four policemen were killed and two wounded by the UÇPMB, the VJ retreated back to the GSZ.[21]
On 6 January 2001, the UÇPMB took control of Gornja Šušaja,[22] and were well received by the locals. On 19 January, in command of Bardhyl Osmani, raided VJ positions near Crnotince.[23] On 20 January, the VJ launched an attack against the UÇPMB stronghold. The battle lasted for four days when VJ forces were forced to withdraw.[22][23]
On 13 May 2001, the VJ and Serbian police launched an attack on the UÇPMB in Oraovica before they entered Sector B. The fighting began at 6:10 am when Yugoslav troops entered the city. At 7:00 am, the UÇPMB attacked Serbian police and fired three rockets towards Oraovica and VJ positions. Attacks from the UÇPMB stopped at 8:00 am. On 14 May 2001, the Yugoslav troops captured the city after the UÇPMB attacked again at 2:15 pm.[24]
On 21 May 2001, members of the UÇPMB signed the Končulj Agreement, which resulted in the full demilitarization, demobilization, and disarmament of the UÇPMB.[25][26] The agreement stated that the VJ was allowed to enter the GSZ by 31 May 2001.[27][28] At the same time, the Serbian side agreed to sign the Statement on conditional amnesty for members of the UÇPMB, which promised amnesty to UÇPMB fighters on 23 May 2001.[29] After Shefket Musliu signed the Končulj Agreement, he stated:[30]
"I can tell you that we have handed over our weapons, and that the time has come to end the war. I hope now all children in the villages can go to school again ... I am ready at any moment to face justice, because I have always been convinced and continue to be so about my innocence and that of my ex-combatants."
— Shefket Musliu
As the situation escalated, NATO allowed the VJ to reclaim the GSZ on 24 May 2001, at the same time giving the UÇPMB the opportunity to turn themselves over to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), which promised to only take their weapons and note their names before releasing them. More than 450 UÇPMB members took advantage of KFOR's "screen and release" policy, among them commander Shefket Musliu, who turned himself over to KFOR at a checkpoint along the GSZ just after midnight of 26 May 2001.[31]
With the signing of the Končulj Agreement in May 2001, the former KLA and UÇPMB fighters next moved to western Macedonia where the NLA was established, which fought against the Macedonian government in 2001.[5]Ali Ahmeti organized the NLA from former KLA and UÇPMB fighters from Kosovo, Albanian insurgents from the UÇPMB in Serbia, young Albanian radicals, nationalists from Macedonia, and foreign mercenaries.[32][33] The acronym was the same as the KLA's in Albanian.[32]
Another Albanian paramilitary organization Albanian National Army (ANA, AKSh) also had former UÇPMB fighters.[34] The group is associated with FBKSh (National Front for Reunification of Albanians), its political wing. The group participated in attacks against Macedonian forces with the NLA.[35][36] After the NLA disbanded, the ANA later went and operated in the Preševo Valley.[37]
Organization
The UÇPMB was organized into five brigades, each with their own commanders:
^Independent International Commission on Kosovo (2000). The Kosovo Report(PDF). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN978-0199243099. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
^Krstic, Ninoslav; Dragan Zivkovic. "Извођење операције решавања кризе на југу Србије изазване деловањем наоружаних албанских екстремиста (терориста)". Vojno delo. p. 180. ISSN0042-8426.
^"Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Federal Republic of Yugoslavia". Child Soldiers International. 2001. The UCPMB is an Albanian armed group operating in southern Serbia whose operations are reportedly controlled by the Political Council for Presovo. They are calling for the incorporation of the cities of Preshava, Medvegia and Bujanovci into Kosovo. Estimates of numbers vary between 200 and 15,000. The Guardian newspaper reported in January 2001 that some sixty suspected members of the UCPMB guerrilla had been arrested by peacekeepers. UCPMB recruits include children in their mid teens to men in their forties ... Further confirmation of the participation of child soldiers came when KFOR detained 16 juveniles (aged 15-17) in the first two months of 2001 for alleged involvement in the conflict (although the degree of "involvement" is not clear). The international media claim that there is forced recruitment of juveniles into this group but this is not verified and numbers are small ... A 15-year-old Albanian male was reported shot dead on 23 March 2001 in the Ground Safety Zone near Gnjilane. Although no confirmations have been received, the circumstances suggest he may have been a child soldier. UNICEF, 9/3/01 op. cit.Information (provided by [a] confidential source that requests confidentiality, 3/01)
^S. Cross; S. Kentera; R. Vukadinovic; R. Nation, eds. (2013). Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration. Springer. pp. 98, 101. ISBN9781137010209.
^"Macedonia - defense: Buckovski: "Let tragedy be the beginning of the end of the war"". Relief.web. August 10, 2001. Retrieved 26 June 2022. "ANA" CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING OF TEN MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS Skopje, August 10 - A new armed group of ethnic Albanians on Thursday claimed responsibility for the killing of ten Macedonian army reservists in a highway ambush a day earlier. The "Albanian National Army" (AKSH) e-mailed a statement to several media in the region, on Albanian-language, saying a combined unit of its fighters and of the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) carried the attack out "in revenge" for the killing of five NLA members by Macedonian security forces.
^"Rebels kill three policemen in Macedonia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2022. In a statement yesterday, a dissident ethnic Albanian group calling itself the Albanian National Army claimed responsibility for the killings, saying: "The Skopje government is restarting its terror and sees war as the only response to Albanian demands."
