| Conflict: | Battle of Oraovica |
| Partof: | the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley |
| Date: | 13–14 May 2001 |
| Place: | Oraovica, Karadak, Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Territory: | Yugoslav forces regain control over Oraovica |
| Result: | Yugoslav victory |
| Combatant1: | Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Combatant2: | Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac |
| Commander1: | Ninoslav Krstić Goran Radosavljević |
| Commander2: | Bardhyl Osmani Mustafa Shaqiri |
| Units1: | 211st Tank Brigade 78th Motorized Brigade 63rd Parachute Brigade 72nd Brigade for Special Operations  Police of Serbia |
| Units2: | 111th Brigade 113th Brigade 115th Brigade |
| Casualties1: | None[1] |
| Casualties2: | 2 killed (UÇPMB claim) 8 wounded 14-20 killed 80 POWs (Yugoslav claim) 900 albanian locals Displaced |
| Coordinates: | 42.3217°N 21.6558°W |
The Battle of Oraovica (Serbian: Bitka na Oraovica) was a conflict between the army and police of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Albanian militant group Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) during the 1999-2001 insurgency in the Preševo Valley.
After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999 with the signing of the Kumanovo agreement,[2] a 5-kilometre-wide Ground Safety Zone (GSZ) was created. It served as a buffer zone between the Yugoslav Army and the Kosovo Force (KFOR).[3] [4] In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group was formed under the UÇPMB, which started training in the GSZ.[5] [6] The group began attacking Serbian civilians and police, which escalated into an insurgency.[7]
The village of Oraovica was under the control of UÇPMB. On 14 May Yugoslav forces launched an attack on the UÇPMB stronghold in this Albanian-populated place near the border with Kosovo. Fighting began on 13 May at 6:10 a.m by an attack on Yugoslav forces. At 7:00 a.m, Albanian men attacked Serbian police and army again and fired three rocket towards the village. More incidents happened during the day until 8:00 p.m. On 14 May, Serbian forces captured Oraovica after the UÇPMB attacked them at 2:15 p.m.