Draft:Attacks in Ponoševac

The Attacks in Ponoševac are armed conflicts between the MUP and the Kosovo Liberation Army at the beginning of May 1998, during the War in Kosovo and Metohija. In these low-intensity clashes, KLA members were defeated and forced to retreat towards the border with the Republic of Albania. May 1998 marked a large increase in terrorist activities against VJ units, the police and the civilian population.In addition to classic guerilla and sabotage actions, the KLA increasingly attacks the civilian population and affects the normal functioning of the daily activities of civilians. The village of Ponoševac, ten kilometers from Đakovica, on the way to the Morina border crossing, was the scene of fierce clashes between the MUP of Serbia and the Kosovo Liberation Army in early May 1998. Both before and after the end of the fighting, there were large forces of the KLA stationed in this area to accommodate terrorists who crossed the border illegally every day and smuggled weapons for the KLA into Kosovo.

Prelude of the attacks
Weapons for KLA members were distributed at the mosque in Ponoševac. In that direction, there are passes up to 650 meters high, easy and suitable for incursions from Albania, until the border patrols of the Yugoslav Army closed that part of the border. On the Albanian side, there were two largest training bases for terrorists, in the towns of Kukesh and Tropoja. The KLA had the initiative in this area, which is why small groups of policemen could move around Ponoševac safely only during the day, and exclusively in police convoys and armored vehicles. There were about 50 militants in the village, whose commander was Rezak Alija, and his deputy was Hasan Alija.

The Attacks
It all started around 10:30 a.m. on May 3, when a police patrol in Ponoševac detained one of the local Albanians. A house in the village opened fire on the patrol, injuring two policemen. A little later, the police station itself, located in the center of the village, was attacked, attacked by terrorist forces that were many times more numerous, the blocked policemen asked for reinforcements from Đakovica in order to defend the station and save the lives of the wounded. However, reinforcements arrived for the attackers, so the fighting in the village of Ponoševac and its surroundings continued throughout the night and throughout May 4. When a group of terrorists was destroyed in Ponoševac, a black-skinned man was found among the dead. According to the identification documents found with him, it was established that he is Jaber Imad Madedin from Sudan. The death of this mujahideen confirmed that not only a war of liberation was being waged in Kosovo, but also a Jihad - a holy war of Muslims against Christians.

Journalist teams did not have access to the area of this village for security reasons. A Reuters reporter who still made his way to Ponoševac on May 5 saw a police van blown up with oil on a local road. Thank you for coming, but you will have to leave now. This is a combat zone. Be careful. Terrorists are in positions along the road at the entrance and exit of the village. Check out this armored personnel carrier that was hit by a rocket launcher. Five of our people were injured, one of whom is in critical condition. It can happen to you too - said one member of the police, showing the destroyed transporter to the journalists.

On that day, the police announced that they were in full control of Ponoševac and that there were around 200 members of the KLA in the ring. The following day, May 6, it was announced that the terrorist group had been defeated and that the terrorists had retreated to the hills and surrounding villages. Then they carried out attacks on border units of the Yugoslav Army. Most of the inhabitants of this Albanian village escaped, and the police barricaded themselves in the police station, next to which an armored personnel carrier was stationed. However, members of the KLA could be seen less than a kilometer away from the police station in Ponoševac on those days, which proves that they had not completely withdrawn from the village.On May 8, they already attacked the MUP patrol in the village and wounded one policeman on that occasion. Within a few days, tensions calmed down. Nothing is reliably known about the losses of terrorists in the battles near Ponoševac.