Lake Radonjić Operation

The Lake Radonjić Operation was a Yugoslav offensive against Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) militants in the villages of Prilep, Irzniq, Dashinoc and Glođane, located in the municipality of Deçan, during the Kosovo War in September 1998. The operation was in response to the KLA's expulsion of Serb civilians from the aforementioned areas.

Lake Radonjić Offensive
Part of the Kosovo War
Date September 1998 Location Lake Radonjić, Glođane, FR Yugoslavia Result Yugoslav Victory KLA withdraws from the Lake after Yugoslav forces repeatedly shell KLA positions Yugoslav Forces seize the area
Belligerents
FR Yugoslavia	Kosovo Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Milorad Ulemek	Ramuš Haradinaj
Units involved
Yugoslav Armed Forces JSO MUP	Unknown
Strength
Far Greater	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
Crimes against local Albanian Population

Prelude

In 1989, Kosovo's autonomy within Yugoslavia was revoked. Soon after, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was formed to fight the Yugoslav establishment. After a string of minor attacks, the KLA's mission became much more aggressive, which led to them claiming areas that were key to Serbia's fuel-supply, near the town of Orahovac. Years of ethnic tension had preceded the Kosovo War, and spilled into numerous atrocities on both sides. Beginning in March 1998, the KLA under the command of Ramush Haradinaj mounted a campaign north of Lake Radonjić to seize control over the area between Glođane and Deçan. By April 1998, almost every Serb civilian in the KLA operational zone were either killed or expelled from the area, with Albanian civilians considered collaborators also facing attacks. Between March and September 1998, the KLA abducted over 60 civilians, subsequently killing many of them.

Yugoslav Offensive

In September 1998, the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and police mounted a counter-offensive and captured a series of villages around Lake Radonjić from the KLA beginning with Prilep, Irzniq, Dashinoc and Glođane. KLA forces had grown stronger and tended to control villages away from the main roads while the Yugoslav military was positioned on the hills around Lake Radonjić. Throughout the summer, Yugoslav forces shelled surrounding Albanian villages around Lake Radonjić from their position on the hills daily. In September, the Yugoslav military moved through the villages around the lake in order to attack and expel the KLA. Colonel John Crosland, an English military officer attached to the VJ, witnessed this first hand and commented on the destruction caused by those forces. He noted that he personally witnessed looting and burning of houses by Serbian forces and that the village of Prilep was razed to 18 inches about the ground. He stated that the VJ, Serbian police forces and paramilitary police forces including MUP, PJP, SAJ, and JSO were involved in the offensive.

Aftermath

The 30 to 37 bodies discovered were widely viewed as victims of the KLA and they formed the basis of the ICTY indictment of three ethnic Albanians. The ICTY Trial Chamber assessed the evidence discovered at Lake Radonjić canal in detail over a three-year trial. It found that seven of the bodies from the Lake Radonjić canal were proven to have been killed by the KLA. These seven individuals were Zenun Gashi, Nurije Krasniqi, Istref Krasniqi, Sanije Balaj, and the mother and the two sisters of Witnesses 4 and 19.