The “Battle of Rahovec” took place, a battle between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the military and police forces of Serbia in the city of Rahovec and its surroundings. It was one of the fiercest battles of the war of the Kosovo Liberation Army against the Serbian forces. The war in Rahovec took place in complicated circumstances, as a result of the great resistance of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Serbian forces used at least two brigades of the Yugoslav mechanized army, reinforced with special and paramilitary units and heavy artillery units. In the offensive for the occupation of Rahovec, the Serbian forces also used the bases in the village of Hoçë e Madhe. Many civilians were killed during this offensive. The biggest massacre took place in the Rahovec Tekke, in the center of the city, where there was no member of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The main battle for Rahovec took place on July 19, 1998, but continued in the following days. Serbian forces during the days of the battle took many civilians hostage, some of whom were executed (among them the sheikh of the Rahovec Tekke), while a number of eyes were sent to unknown places, about whose fate nothing is known. Serbian military and civil structures in Prizren, on July 22, 1998, opened two large pits for mass graves in the city’s cemetery and buried there many Albanians killed during the offensive in Rahovec. (In the photo: City of Rahovec, Kosovo)
Text: The encyclopedic dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. I , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 181.
Photo: © https://kk.rks-gov.net/rahovec/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2017/09/Qyteti.jpg
Graphic processing: AHCF
