Adem Jashari

Adem Jashari^[a] (November 28, 1955 – March 7, 1998) born in Prekaz, in the Drenica region of Kosovo^[b] (at the time Yugoslavia). He is considered to be one of the chief architects of the Kosovo Liberation Army, along with Zahir Pajaziti. Jashari was a chief commander in the Drenica operation zone of the KLA.

Along with his brother Hamza, Adem participated in attacks and assassination of Serb forces. Yugoslav forces at the time, regarding KLA's status, consider him to have been a war criminal, which led to the military action by the Yugoslav military in 1998, where Jashari was killed along with his fifty-two^[1] family members in March 1998.^[2] The title "Hero of Kosovo" was awarded to him in 2008 by the Prime Minister of Kosovo.

Life

In 1991, Jashari moved to Albania to train with the first volunteers who later joined in Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). On February 28, 1998 a group of insurgents led by Adem Jashari attacked Serbian police patrols killing four policemen and injuring two. In the attack sixteen KLA members were killed.^[3] The Jashari family fought Serb/Yugoslav forces in Kosovo from the early '90s but this fact was kept hidden from the general public by both moderate Albanian politicians and by the Belgrade government, in order to preserve the status-quo. The first battle between Jashari and his friends against federal forces took place on the morning of December 30, 1991. Jashari's house was surrounded by a large number of security personnel demanding his surrender. They broke the siege and later participated in several actions against Serbian army and police. The Jashari's residence in Prekaz was next attacked by Serbian police forces on January 22, 1998. The attack was repelled when, according to Shaban Jashari, Adem's father, "friends from the woods" came to help.^{[citation needed]}

Death

In the early morning hours of March 5, 1998, Prekaz was attacked again by the large national army and police forces^[4]. A second ring of troops were formed to prevent any possible escape. The attacking force consisted of armored personnel carriers and police men, backed up by artillery from a nearby ammunition factory. Action lasted for two days^[5].

Police forces first asked Jashari to come out and give himself up, then gave him 2 hours deadline to consider the offer. During this deadline a number of people had left Jashari's houses. After time ran out, shootings have started. In one of the houses, the police fired mortars, followed by tear gas. Most of Jashari's extended family gathered in a single room, which had a brick wall.^{[citation needed]} A shell then fell through the roof, killing a number of family members.^{[citation needed]} The shelling continued for another thirty-six hours before the police finally entered the compound. Amnesty International in a report made for the case, stated that the attack was intended to eliminate all witnesses. Adem Jashari together with fifty-two^[6] of his family members were killed, some of them burned beyond recognition^[7]. A total of fifty-eight people were murdered, among them eighteen were woman and ten children under sixteen years old^[8].

Aftermath

Jashari became a symbol of independence for Kosovo Albanians, as many have been known to wear t-shirts with his picture after Kosovo declared its independence on Sunday, February 17, 2008.^[9] The t-shirts are known to say "Bac, U Kry!", which roughly translates to 'Uncle, It's Done!" in English.^[9]

Nevertheless, Jashari's attacks and rebellion was sometimes associated with behavior of Drenica kaçaks from the past^[10]:

In one village, Donji Prekaz, lived a local tough called Adem Jashari. Several years before he had killed a Serbian policeman and been convicted, but the Serbs were frightened to get him because he would shoot at them from his house. They had tried in January but were forced to retreat. Jashari was a maverick. He hated the Serbs, and although he was one of the KLA’s early recruits, he was no ideological guerrilla. In the words of one source: “He liked to get drunk and go out and shoot Serbs.” In this sense he was a true, dyed in the wool, Drenica kacak.

—Tim Judah, Kosovo, War and Revenge^[2]

See also

• Kosovo War
• Serbian-Albanian conflict
• Attack on Prekaz

Notes and references

Notes:

References:

External links

• Article about Adem Jashari - Gazeta Wyborcza (Polish)