Battle of Oraovica

The Battle of Oraovica was a conflict between the army and police of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Albanian militant group Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac during the 1999-2001 insurgency in the Preševo Valley.

Background

After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999 with the signing of the Kumanovo agreement, a 5-kilometre-wide Ground Safety Zone was created. It served as a buffer zone between the Yugoslav Army and the Kosovo Force. In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group was formed under the UÇPMB, which started training in the GSZ. The group began attacking Serbian civilians and police, which escalated into an insurgency.

Battle

The village of Oraovica was under the control of UÇPMB. On 14 May Yugoslav forces launched an attack on the UÇPMB stronghold in this Albanian-populated place near the border with Kosovo. Fighting began on 13 May at 6:10 a.m by an attack on Yugoslav forces. At 7:00 a.m, Albanian men attacked Serbian police and army again and fired three rockets towards the village. More incidents happened during the day until 8:00 p.m. On 14 May, Serbian forces captured Oraovica after the UÇPMB attacked them at 2:15 p.m.