| Conflict: | Battle of Llapushnik |
| Place: | Llapushnik, Drenica, Kosovo, Yugoslavia |
| Combatant1: | KLA |
| Combatant2: | FR Yugoslavia |
| Result: | KLA victory
|
| Partof: | the Kosovo War |
| Date: | 7–10 May 1998 |
| Casualties1: | 47 killed[1] |
| Casualties2: | unknownTam-110 destroyed |
| Commander1: | Ismet Jashari Fatmir Limaj Isak Musliu Ymer Alushani Kadri Veseli |
| Units1: | 121 Brigade |
| Units2: | Yugoslav Army Serbian police |
| Strength2: | unknown |
| Strength1: | unknown |
The Battle of Llapushnik (Serbian:Битка код Лапушника, Albanian: Beteja e Gryka e Llapushnikut) took place on 7-10 May 1998 in the village of Llapushnik, in the district of Pristina, in Kosovo during the Kosovo war. It ended in the Kosovo Liberation Army being victorious against Yugoslav forces.[2]
On 9 May 1998,[3] Ismet Jashari, who still had not fully recovered from the injuries he suffered during an previous ambush, led his forces into Llapushnik, where he defeated the Yugoslav Army and police and captured the town.[4] [5] Alongside with him were Kadri Veseli, Fatmir Limaj,[6] Isak Musliu and Ymer Alushani.[7]
The Pristina-Peja road was made impassable for the Serbian forces. The Llapushnik gorge was kept blocked for months, enabling the KLA fighters to move freely in a large part of the territory of Kosovo and this enabled them to organise and supply themselves with weapons.[8] [9] [10] [11]
Kadri Veseli, a Kosovo Politician and former founder and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, recalled it as one of the most fierce battles, saying that the dimensions of frontal fighting in Llapushnik resonated throughout Europe and increased the population's confidence in the strength of the Kosovo Liberation Army with a massive mobilisation.[12]
On 25-26 July 1998, Serbian military and police forces launched a summer offensive against most of the KLA's major checkpoints and bases, including an attack against the Llapushnik gorge and surrounding villages.[13] Yugoslav forces seized back control of Llapushnik on July 27.[14]
From mid-June to the end of July 1998, KLA forces established a prison camp in Llapushnik where both Serb and Albanian civilian detainees were subjected to mistreatment, torture and murder.[15] [16] When Yugoslav forces retook Llapushnik and the surrounding areas, the KLA abandoned the camp and marched the prisoners towards the mountains, dividing them into groups. A group of nine was released while another group numbering some 12 people were shot, ten of whom were killed.