Battle of Dobrosin

The Battle of Dobrosin was a conflict between police of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Albanian militant group Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) during the 2000-2001 insurgency in the Preševo Valley. On 4 March, the UÇPMB numbering 500 insurgents attacked and captured the strategic village of Dobrosin. The capture of Dobrosin marked the beginning of the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley.^[1][2][3]

Battle of Dobrosin
Part of the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley
Date 4 March 2000 Location Dobrosin, Karadak, Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Result LAPMB victory LAPMB captures Dobrosin Start of the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley
Belligerents
Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac	Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Rabit Saqipi	Nebojša Pavković
Strength
500 insurgents	Unknown
Casualties and losses
1 killed	1 killed 2 wounded
175 civilians displaced

During the battle one UÇPMB insurgent and one Serb policeman were killed, while two Serb policemen were wounded.^[4] During the fighting, 175 civilians were displaced from the village and fled to neighboring Kosovo.^[2]

Background

The UÇPMB was created on January 26, 2000. On that day, Serbian police officers invaded the predominantly Albanian village of Dobrosin on the border with Kosovo. The village was part of the "demilitarized zone" following the Kosovo War and Kumanovo Agreement in 1999. After a firefight between the Serbian police and Albanian residents, two Albanian brothers were killed. Since then, uniformed LAPMB started to appear in the village.^[5]

References

1. Gall, Carlotta (2000-03-05). "Albanian Village Flees After Serbs and Guerrillas Battle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
2. AP (2000-03-05). "Civilians Flee Serbian Border Town". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
3. Armor. University of Minnesota: U.S. Armor Association. 2001.
4. "Die vergessenen Albaner Serbiens - Zur Lage der ethnischen Albaner in Südserbien außerhalb des Kosovo - Ulf Brunnbauer in Südosteuropa, Zeitschrift für Gegenwartsforschung, 7-8/1999". www.bndlg.de. Retrieved 2022-10-04. Overnight Friday, Albanian witnesses reported clashes between the Serbian police and the UCPBM fighters in Dobrosin. And a week ago, a UCPBM fighter and a Serb policeman were killed, while two policemen were injured in clashes in the village.
5. "Politik: Serben und Kosovo-Albaner: UCPMB: Selbsternannte Befreier". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2022-10-02.