| Battle of Junik | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kosovo War | |||||||||
 A Junik street, 2013 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
 Kosovo Liberation Army | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
unknown |
Bekim Berisha † Bedri Shala † Elton Zherka † Përmet Vula † Samidin Xhezairi (WIA) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown |
1,000–1,500 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
6 killed |
13 killed | ||||||||
| 8 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed, 12,000 displaced | |||||||||
The Battle of Junik (Albanian: Beteja e Junikut; Serbian: Битка за Јуник, Bitka za Junik) was fought during the Kosovo War between the ethnic Albanian paramilitary organization known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the security forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia over the town of Junik in western Kosovo.
Junik was occupied by the KLA early in the war and became a centre of arms smuggling from northern Albania due to its strategic location. The town was besieged by the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) on 28 July 1998, and was the site of intense clashes for nearly three weeks afterwards. On 16 August, it was stormed by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, the special operations component of the MUP, forcing the remaining KLA fighters to flee into the surrounding hills and forests.
Four MUP personnel and two VJ soldiers were killed in the battle, according to contemporary reports. The KLA suffered 13 fatalities. In addition, there were eight Kosovo Albanian civilian fatalities. An additional 12,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were displaced. After Junik's fall, the United States expressed concern that government forces had planted landmines around the town. In direct response to the town's capture, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1199 on 23 September 1998, calling for an end to hostilities in Kosovo.
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