page_title: Bujanovac
section_title: Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–99)
hierarchical_section_title: Bujanovac / History / Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–99)
caption_attribution_description: English: Sites in Kosovo and southern Central Serbia where NATO aviation used depleted uranium rounds during 1999 bombing. Српски / srpski: Локације на Косову и југу Централне Србије на којима је НАТО авијација користила забрањену муницију са осиромашеним уранијумом током бомбардовања 1999. године.
context_page_description: Bujanovac is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also known for its source of mineral water and spa town Bujanovačka banja.
  According to the 2011 census, due to the boycott of Albanians. the largest ethnic group in the town were Serbs, while the largest ethnic group in the municipality were Albanians.
context_section_description: In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Bujanovac, Preševo and Medveđa should join the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova. However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s.
  Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, and nearby Kosovo War which lasted until 1999, between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanian paramilitary separatist organization, the UÇPMB, raised an armed insurgency in the Preševo Valley, in the region mostly inhabited by Albanians, with a goal to occupy these three municipalities from Serbia and join them to the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova.
  Unlike in the case of Kosovo, western countries condemned the attacks and described it as the "extremism" and use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group. Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, the new Yugoslav government suppressed the violence by 2001 and defeated the separatists. NATO troops also helped the Yugoslav government by ensuring that the rebels do not import the conflicts back into Kosovo. Thereafter, the situation has stabilized even though large number of forces exist in this small municipality.
  In 2009, Serbia opened a military base Cepotina five kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.
caption: Sites near Bujanovac where NATO aviation used munition with depleted uranium during 1999 bombing
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