The “Battle of Mushqeta” took place, which were fightings against the German forces that ocurred within the framework of the war for the liberation of Tirana. The German forces of over 2,000 people, with tanks and armored vehicles, which were part of the “Steyrer” group, had withdrawn from Peqin and from Elbasan and were headed for Tirana. They had the task of striking from the back, the forces of the Albanian National Liberation Front that had surrounded the capital and, after destroying them, continue the retreat towards Shkodra together with the German garrison. The Headquarters of the I Corps of the Albanian National Liberation Army, in order to face the danger, organized quick actions that included ambushes and turned into powerful attacks to destroy the enemy column. The Battle of Mushqeta was fought in two regions by 9 battalions of the I, IV, VIII and XVII Assault Brigades, as well as the II battalion of the XV Assault Brigade, with about 2,000 fighters. At around 16:30 on November 14, when the front of the German column arrived at the Erzeni bridge, and its end was at Qafë-Kërrabë, unexpected fire was opened. The fighting was very fierce for 24 hours, up to hand-to-hand combat, and ended with the complete annihilation of the Germans. Only 300 people, accompanied by tanks and armored cars and helped by forces coming from Tirana, were able to escape and entered Tirana, where a part was destroyed on the morning of November 16 by the forces of the Albanian National Liberation Army fighting in the capital. In the battle of Mushqeta, many Nazis were killed, all the weapons, techniques and all other war material were destroyed. The “Monument of Mushqeta” is dedicated to this battle. (In the photo: Mushqeta Monument, Bërzhite (Tirana).)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 229-230.
Photo: © https://michaelharrison.org.uk/tag/berzhite/
Graphic processing: AHCF
