The Kosovo War ended Yugoslav control over Kosovo and prompted a controversial NATO military intervention without UN Security Council approval.
Key Facts
- Duration
- 28 February 1998 – 11 June 1999
- Total killed or missing
- Over 13,500 people
- Kosovar Albanians displaced
- 1.2 million – 1.45 million people
- NATO bombing start date
- 24 March 1999
- Yugoslav civilian deaths (NATO bombing)
- At least 488 people
- Non-Albanians fled post-war
- Around 200,000 people
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
After Slobodan Milošević revoked Kosovo's autonomy in 1989 and imposed discriminatory policies against ethnic Albanians, the Kosovo Liberation Army formed to resist Serbian authority. Peaceful resistance led by President Rugova failed to gain international attention, and the KLA escalated armed operations from 1995 onward, acquiring weapons through Albania in 1997 and launching attacks on Yugoslav forces in early 1998.
The Kosovo War was fought between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the KLA from February 1998 to June 1999. Yugoslav forces conducted mass expulsions of Kosovar Albanians beginning March 1999, prompting NATO to launch an aerial bombing campaign on 24 March 1999 without UN Security Council authorization. The conflict concluded with the Kumanovo Agreement on 9 June 1999, requiring Yugoslav and Serb forces to withdraw from Kosovo.
Following the war, Kosovo came under UN and NATO administration. Over 13,500 people were killed or went missing, and roughly 200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians fled Kosovo. The KLA disbanded, with some members forming the Kosovo Police. The ICTY convicted six Serb/Yugoslav officials and one Albanian commander for war crimes, and a UN court ruled the violence constituted terror but not genocide.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Slobodan Milošević.
Side B
2 belligerents