Kosovo War

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

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Kosovo War
- **partof**: the Yugoslav Wars
- **image**: Kosovo War header.jpg
- **image size**: 300px
- **caption**: **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 Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA commanders; a United States Air Force, USAF F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15E taking off from Aviano Air Base
- **date**: February 1998 – 11 June 1999
- **place**: Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, Kosovo (then part of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia) and Albania
- **territory**: No legal changes to Yugoslav borders according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, Resolution 1244, but effective political and economic separation of Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, Kosovo from Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia due to being placed under UNMIK, UN administration
- **result**: Yugoslav victory
*Kumanovo Treaty
* Yugoslav forces pull out of Kosovo
*Yugoslavia maintained sovereignty  over Kosovo
* United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, United Nations Resolution 1244
* Return of Kosovo Albanians, Albanian refugees
* Expulsion of over half of the Kosovo Serbs, Serb and other non-Albanian civilians
* Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA veterans join the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, UÇPMB, starting the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, Preševo insurgency
* Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, Bulldozer Revolution in 2000
*kosovo’s eventual independence in 2008 which did not break international law according to ICJ
- **combatant1**: **Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA**

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- **commander1**:  Adem Jashari

Hashim Thaçi

Bilall Syla

Hamëz Jashari

Sylejman Selimi

Ramush Haradinaj

Agim Çeku

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 Kudusi Lama
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 Wesley Clark
- **commander2**: Slobodan Milošević

Dragoljub Ojdanić

Nebojša Pavković

Vlastimir Đorđević

Vladimir Lazarević
 Sreten Lukić
- **strength1**:  17,000–20,000 Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA insurgents
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_cca._ 80 aircraft

1,031 aircraft

30+ warships and submarines
- **strength2**: 85,000 soldiers (including 40,000 in and around Kosovo)
 20,000 policemen
 100 SAM sites
 1,400 artillery pieces

240 aircraft
 2,032 armoured vehicles & tanks

Serbian paramilitary units (Šakali, Scorpions (paramilitary), Škorpioni), unknown number
 Russian volunteers, unknown number
- **casualties1**:  1,500 insurgents killed (per the KLA)
 2,131 insurgents killed (per the Humanitarian Law Center, 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
- **casualties2**: **Caused by Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA:**
  624 Yugoslav soldiers and Serbian policemen killed

**Caused by NATO:**
 1,008–1,200 killed
  14 tanks, 18 Armoured personnel carrier, APCs, 20 artillery pieces and 121 aircraft and helicopters destroyed

**Caused by KLA and NATO:**
  1,084 killed (per the HLC)
- **casualties3**: 8,676 Kosovo Albanian, Kosovar Albanian civilians killed or missing

90% of Kosovar Albanians displaced during the war <small>(848,000–863,000 expelled from Kosovo, 590,000 Kosovar Albanians displaced within Kosovo)</small>

1,641–2,500 Serb and other non-Albanian civilians killed or missing <small>(445 Roma and others)</small>

230,000 Serbs, Kosovo Serbs, Romani people, 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 United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killed

13,548 civilians and fighters dead overall (Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Roma)
- **no-location-property**: yes
- **casus**: **1998–1999** KLA separatist war.
**1999** Non-acceptance of the Rambouillet talks.