ONE OF THE HEAVIEST BATTLES IN RECENT SERBIAN HISTORY BEGAN 26 YEARS AGO

BIJELJINA, APRIL 9 /SRNA/ - On this day 26 years ago, the most famous and one of the most difficult battles in recent Serbian history began - the battle at Košare in which 108 soldiers died defending the state border of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from Albanian forces and NATO.

Members of the terrorist KLA, with the help of NATO aviation and the Albanian army, intended to seize the Košare checkpoint, and then create a corridor for a land invasion from the direction of Albania.

It was Good Friday, on the eve of Easter in 1999, the 17th day of the NATO aggression against Serbia, i.e. the FRY, when a fierce attack from the territory of Albania followed in the area of ​​the Košara checkpoint.

The goal was to cut communication between units of the Yugoslav Army in Đakovica and Prizren, to enable a land invasion and control of the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

The battle lasted 67 days, until the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement and the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army from Kosovo and Metohija, that is, on June 10, 1999.

Despite the enormous efforts of the KLA and their Western patrons, and the occupation of locations by terrorists, the Yugoslav Army managed to stabilize the front on the second line of defense and prevent further progress, that is, a land invasion of the FRY.

The largest number of Serbian forces at Košare consisted of soldiers on regular military service with an average age of 19 to 20, and Serb volunteers from abroad and Cossacks also fought.

Opposite the forces of the Yugoslav Army on the territory of Albania were almost 12,000 NATO soldiers, of which 5,000 were Americans, with at least 30 tanks and 26 Apache combat helicopters.