Adem Jashari, founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army, legendary fighter and commander, hero of the Liberation War of the people of Kosovo, was born in Prekaz of Drenica (Kosovo). He graduated from technical high school. He took part in the demonstrations of 1981. Until 1989, he remained illegal, distributing tracts and pamphlets calling for war. In 1989, together with his brother, Hamza, he participated in the demonstrations. In 1990, he organized the first armed groups, creating connections with people all over Kosovo. In 1991, Adem Jashari and a group of friends went outside Kosovo, where they trained militarily. After they returned to Kosovo, they created armed groups and started actions against the Serbian police in Skënderaj, Gllogoc, Mitrovica, etc. The Serbian police tracked down Adem Jashari on 30.12.1991, surrounded his house, where he was together with his two brothers, Rifat and Hamza. They refused to surrender, broke the cordon and fled, injuring several policemen. This event raised the entire province of Drenica and for 7 years the Serbs could not enter there. On March 2, 1998, numerous Serbian military-police forces, accompanied by tanks, armored cars and artillery, surrounded Adem’s house. Out of the 30 family members, 22 were in the house that night. They fought as a single body for three days and three nights, until they were all killed (21 people between the ages of 9 and 74), except for one little girl, who hid in her dead mother’s bosom. In the village of Upper Prekaz in Drenica, during the macabre three-day attack of the Serbian military and paramilitary forces on the Jashari family, he was martyred in 1998. In Prekaz, near the tower of Adem Jashari, which has been converted into a museum, there is a plot of their graves, which is turned into a place of permanent tributes. Adem Jashari has been declared a Legendary Commander. (In the photo: Adem Jashari)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1064-1065.
Photo: © Albanian Telegraphic Agency
Graphic processing: AHCF
