# Kosovo War

| Kosovo War |
| --- |
| Part of the Yugoslav Wars |
|  **Clockwise from top-left:** Yugoslav general staff headquarters damaged by NATO air strikes; a Zastava Koral buried under rubble caused by NATO air strikes; memorial to local KLA commanders; a USAF F-15E taking off from Aviano Air Base |
|

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Date | February 1998 – 11 June 1999  |
| Location | Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia) and Albania (Albanian & OSCE Claim) |
| Result |
Kumanovo Treaty
* Yugoslav forces pull out of Kosovo
* United Nations Resolution 1244
* Return of Albanian refugees
* Expulsion of over half of the Serb and other non-Albanian civilians
* KLA veterans join the UÇPMB, starting the Preševo insurgency
* Bulldozer Revolution in 2000
 |
| Territorial changes |
No legal changes to Yugoslav borders according to the Resolution 1244, but effective political and economic separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia due to being placed under UN administration |

 |
| Belligerents |
|  KLA

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 Albania

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 NATO
* Belgium
* Canada
* Denmark
* France
* Germany
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Portugal
* Spain
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States
 |  Yugoslavia |
| Commanders and leaders |
|  Adem Jashari **†**
 Hashim Thaçi
 Bilall Syla
 Hamëz Jashari **†**
 Sylejman Selimi
 Ramush Haradinaj
 Agim Çeku

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 Recep Meidani
 Kudusi Lama

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 Wesley Clark |  Slobodan Milošević
 Dragoljub Ojdanić
 Nebojša Pavković
 Vlastimir Đorđević
 Vladimir Lazarević  Sreten Lukić |
| Strength |
|  17,000–20,000 KLA insurgents

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 *cca.* 80 aircraft (Operation Eagle Eye)  1,031 aircraft (Operation Allied Force)  30+ warships and submarines |  85,000 soldiers (including 40,000 in and around Kosovo)  20,000 policemen  100 SAM sites  1,400 artillery pieces (Both ground & air defence)  240 aircraft  2,032 armoured vehicles & tanks
 Serbian paramilitary units (Šakali, Škorpioni), unknown number
 Russian volunteers, unknown number  |
| Casualties and losses |
|  1,500 insurgents killed (per the KLA)  2,131 insurgents killed (per the HLC)

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 2 killed (non-combat) and 3 captured
  2 aircraft shot down and 3 damaged  Two AH-64 Apaches and an AV-8B Harrier crashed (non-combat)
  47 UAVs shot down
 Possible unknown number of DGSE officers killed | **Caused by KLA:**  624 Yugoslav soldiers and Serbian policemen killed
**Caused by NATO:**  1,008–1,200 killed  14 tanks, 18 APCs, 20 artillery pieces and 121 aircraft and helicopters destroyed
**Caused by KLA and NATO:**  1,084 killed (per the HLC) |
|  8,676 Kosovar Albanian civilians killed or missing
 90% of Kosovar Albanians displaced during the war (848,000–863,000 expelled from Kosovo, 590,000 Kosovar Albanians displaced within Kosovo)
 1,641–2,500 Serb and other non-Albanian civilians killed or missing (445 Roma and others)
 230,000 Kosovo Serbs, Romani and other non-Albanian civilians displaced
/ Civilian deaths caused by NATO bombing: 489–528 (per Human Rights Watch) or 453–2,500 (per the HLC and Tanjug); also includes  3 Chinese journalists killed

13,548 civilians and fighters dead overall (Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Roma) |

The **Kosovo War** was a controversial war that took place from 1998 to 1999 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Kosovo Liberation Army fought the Yugoslavian army from 1998 to 1999. In 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslavia to prevent genocide in Kosovo.

## Related pages

* Yugoslav Wars