Kosovo Protection Corps replaces Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC; Albanian: Trupat e Mbrojtjes së Kosovës, TMK) was a civilian emergency services organisation in Kosovo active from 1999 to 2009.
The KPC was created on September 21, 1999, through the promulgation of UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 and the agreement of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo. In effect, it was a compromise between the disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which was stipulated by UNSCR 1244 and rejected by the Kosovar Albanians, transforming the KLA into KPC.History
Immediately after the end of the 1999 Kosovo War and the dislocation of NATO forces in Kosovo, emerged the need for the definition of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) role in accordance with the new situation. UN Resolution 1244, approved in June 1999, included KLA demilitarization.
Therefore, the same month, KFOR Commander, General Mike Jackson, and Hashim Thaçi, as General Commander of KLA, who at the time was Prime Minister of the Provisional Government in Kosovo, signed the Agreement for the Demilitarization and Transformation of the KLA.
Upon the completion of the demilitarization process, in September 1999 the UN Special Representative Bernard Kouchner signed Regulation nr 1999/8 for the foundation of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), which then is followed by the Declaration of Principles, signed by the KPC Commander and the KFOR Commander.
Immediately following the approval of these acts, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) initiated the registration campaign of the KLA fighters, lasting from July 23 to November 31, 1999. According to IOM documents the total registration amounted to 25,723 members.
A number of KLA personnel joined the Kosovo Police.