Albania–Yugoslav border incident (April 1999)

An incident took place on theAlbania–Yugoslav borderin April 1999 when theYugoslav Armyshelled severalAlbanian border townsaroundKrumë,Tropojë. In these villages, refugees were being housed after fleeing the ongoingwar in Kosovoby crossing into Albania.On 13 April 1999, Yugoslav infantry entered Albanian territory to close off an area that was used by theKosovo Liberation Armyto stage attacks against Yugoslav targets.
In 1992–1993, ethnic Albanians created theKosovo Liberation Army(KLA)which started attackingFederal Republic of Yugoslavia(FRY) police forces and secret-service officials who abused Albanian civilians in 1995.Starting in 1998, the KLA was involved in frontal battle, with increasing numbers of Yugoslav security forces. Escalating tensions led to theKosovo Warin February 1998.
As tensions increased, it became increasingly difficult for theAlbanian Armyto monitor the country's 140-kilometre (87 mi) border with the FRY and cope with the steady influx ofKosovar Albanianrefugees into the country.Yugoslav army units controlled the border in a few areas, but generally relied on the remote mountainous terrain to do their work for them. Many Yugoslav border units suffered from lack of manpower, with the wars inBosnia and HerzegovinaandCroatiahaving seriously damaged their resources. The morale of soldiers was low, with food often poor, and spare parts for army and police equipment and supplies were difficult to obtain.
Albanian authorities were concerned with attempts bySerbiato implicate Albania as asupporter of terrorism.The Albanian Army had an estimated 4,000–6,000 soldiers, and Yugoslavia was said to have "little regard" for the country's military.
The Kosovo War caused thousands of Kosovar Albanians to join the KLA ranks. More than 500,000 ethnic Albanian refugees fled their homes in fear of Yugoslav Army reprisals between 1998 and 1999. Meanwhile, the KLA began to recruit in the refugee camps. There had been fighting along the border between the KLA and Yugoslav forces where KLA troops had infiltrated into Kosovo. The subsequent incursion by the FRY could have been in response to KLA actions in the area, according to Albanian police.
Relations between the FRY andAlbaniahad been strained as 300,000 ethnic Albanians had fled into Albania itself. The Yugoslavs had been angered over Albania's support ofNATO airstrikesand its sheltering of KLA militants. TheOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe(OSCE) had reported previous Yugoslav Army incursions into Albanian territory. The border was lightly defended by theAlbanian Armywhich was ordered not to fire back after a Yugoslav Army attack. A KLA commander reported that rebel forces had crossed over into Kosovo nearTropojë, a KLA stronghold, in the days before the attack, this incursion was confirmed by an OSCE monitor.
From their positions on the Yugoslavian side of the border, soldiers of theYugoslav Armyfired at least 10 shells on the town ofKrumëjust before midnight, where refugees fromKosovohad taken shelter.Albanian Foreign MinistryspokesmanSokol Gjokastated that the incident did not result in casualties on either side, and that three houses had been destroyed in the fighting. The same source claim the Yugoslav troops withdrew when Albanian forces from Tropojë reached the area.