Skirmish on Saint Ilija Mountain

The Skirmish on Saint Ilija Mountain happened during the Preševo Insurgency, and was one of the last significant combat operations during the conflict. On 25 December 2000, Yugoslav Police stated that the mountain of Saint Ilija had been taken after some fighting, without any casualties on either side. They claimed that the Mountain was a strategic point for the UCBMP, who would use it to continue shelling the town of Vranje in southern Serbia.

Once control of the mountain was regained by the Yugoslav Police, significant damage was caused to the UCPMB upon their retreat.

The battle
On December 25, Serb police stated that they regained strategic positions in the volatile Preševo Valley situated on the border region between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia. According to Yugoslav forces, regaining Saint Ilija Mountain and the valley, which is on the edge of the buffer zone that runs 5 km inside Serbia, was vital because ethnic Albanian militants were using the position to shell the southern Serbian town of Vranje. Following a day of fighting, the Mountain fell into hands of Yugoslav police who successfully deblocked town of Vranje, securing it until the end of war and not allowing any UCBMP members to enter. Ethnic-Albanian civilians also fled the area during the fighting. Fighting was not heavy but six policemen were injured by the UCPMB. Policemen said that the UCPMB was still advancing and taking villages around Bujanovac, but that this operation had helped the Serbian side. The mountain would stay under Serbian control until end of the fighting.

Aftermath
Yugoslav forces cannot use heavy weapons in the zone and the army is not allowed in the buffer zone - only police officers can patrol the area. On Saturday, the Serbian government said armed rebels fired three mortars the previous day at Serbian police troops. Nobody was injured in the brief attack which took place in the buffer zone separating Kosovo and the rest of Serbia. The previous month, four Serb police officers were killed when insurgents seized several strategic positions in the zone on the Yugoslav side of the Kosovo boundary. Several shootings in weeks prior had strained the unofficial ceasefire between the police and militants.