A Blood-Stained Border

The most serious incident along the Yugoslav-Albanian border occurred on April 23 at 5:45 a.m, near the town of Djakovica. The Yugoslav army released a statement to the effect that its border patrol came across a large group of arms smugglers from Albania. A total of 23 people were killed in two separate conflicts, and another two died in a subsequent "sweeping" operation. The army has so far identified 17 casualties and two prisoners, and all of them are ethnic Albanians. The army sustained no losses and claims that the group was part of a 200-strong convoy returning from a three-day drill in Albania.

Some Serbian media quoted "anonymous military sources" as saying that among the dead were Naim Maljoku, a former JNA captain convicted in 1985 for being a member of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Military Committee and his comrade Ramadan Gasi. The alleged presence of Maljoku and Gasi, believed to be ranking UCK officers, was supposed to prove the connection between the Marxist guerrillas of the eighties and Kosovo's UCK rebels. It turned out, however, that neither of the two were among the killed, and that they are alive and well somewhere abroad. Although both of them are related to the UCK, reliable sources say they are not in the commanding structure.

Many skirmishes followed the above-mentioned incident. Some of the paths in the Prokletije Mountains are impassable even for mules and guides at this time of the year, which is why Yugoslav border guards were able to ambush contraband convoys almost at will. They probably had information as to when the smugglers would turn up and how strong they were. Merchants in northern Albania like money no matter where it comes from, and Yugoslav intelligence probably got a helping hand from a foreign intelligence agency.
Some details, however, are veiled in a cloud of mystery. Ethnic Albanians on both sides of the border are very experienced in smuggling all sorts of things. That's how they made a living during the UN-imposed sanctions against Yugoslavia. How on earth did a 200-strong convoy, carrying four tons of arms and ammunition, intend to cross the border in broad daylight making enough noise to wake up the dead ? How come the Yugoslav army sustained no losses in five fierce clashes, apart from two lightly wounded soldiers ? What military drill can be completed in three days ? The names of at least seven ethnic Albanians believed dead have not been disclosed. The Yugoslav army exhibited the arms it seized after the conflict, but it is more likely that it rounded up everything it has so far confiscated from ethnic Albanians. The Pristina media center exhibited 40 different machine guns, around 500 rifles with ammunition, 300 hand grenades, and other hardware. Among the weapons were a pair of foreign-made underwear for men, but it was later removed.

The army is apparently investing efforts to link Albania with the events in Kosovo. The head of the Yugoslav army security department, General Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, summoned the Belgrade-based military attaches and briefed them on what the Yugoslav intelligence service has learned. The Yugoslav government has lodged a number of protests with the Albanian authorities and asked them to put an end to illegal border crossing. The Albanian authorities, on their part, denied the charges and accused the Yugoslav army of deploying troops along the border, violating Albania's air territory and harassing its innocent population.

The remnants of Albania's army, devastated by last summer's uprising in the country, has been put on red alert. The Albanian defense minister resigned, but his resignation was not accepted.

The Yugoslav army stepped up its activities in Kosovo, namely in the western part of the province. Apart from special forces, the headquarters deployed armored units, heavy artillery and infantry. Most of the troops are based on the shores of a lake which ethnic Albanian circles describe as an ideal location for attacks on UCK strongholds in the Djakovica area. The villages of Jablanica, Glodjane and Gramocelj are believed to be UCK strongholds in the area, some sources say that the UCK headquarters are located in Jablanica.

According to ethnic Albanian sources in Kosovo, the army has started using heavy artillery. The UCK has started using hand rocket launchers and multiple rocket launchers more than before. It is very clear that both sides are checking each other out, and that serious conflicts can be expected in the near future. The tactics employed by the Yugoslav army bear a ghastly resemblance to those used in the not so distant past. Once again, the army is shelling targets which appear to be civilian. Frequent arguments about the competence of the army and police are a reminder what happened in 1991. Kosovo, however, is neither Croatia nor Bosnia and the present Yugoslav army is by no means the same as the former JNA. The Serbs in Kosovo are too few to provide the logistic and paramilitary support the JNA had among the local Serb guerrilla in Croatia and Bosnia. Someone might say there is no need for such support because Kosovo is in Serbia, but one needs to remember that it is the most densely populated region in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav army in Kosovo resembles the Dutch boy who tried to prevent a flood in half the country by sticking his finger into the dam. The only issue is, will the army be helped out?

Yugoslavia's border with Albania can be sealed off but that would be too expensive. It would hardly force the UCK to disappear in thin air and the Djakovica region is hardly Ho Shin Min's way. The Kosovo conflict is not a problem of infiltrating arms and manpower, it is a problem of a horribly mistaken policy and ignoring the truth. A problem like Kosovo's can't be solved by military methods, especially not if these methods are not backed by a determined policy and popular consensus on war. Even if the authorities started recruiting conscripts for a war in Serbia's southern province, it is very likely that the outcome would be the same as in 1991 when only 15 percent of those recruited actually turned up. The Kosovo information center close to Ibrahim Rugova says that at least five Yugoslav soldiers have deserted, which is very worrying news if it's true.
The guerrilla season in the Balkans opens on May 6, on Djurdjevdan, and closes on Mitrovdan, November 8. Border guards say that visibility drops by 50 percent in springtime. The violence in Kosovo is in full swing and it will be hard to stop. It's a long way to Mitrovdan.