Ismet Jashari, a fighter of the Kosovo Liberation Army and commander known as “Kumanova,” was martyred in Luzhnica, Kosovo. Born in the village of Orizare in Kumanova in 1967, he began his high school education in Kumanova and completed it at a high school in Presheva. During this time, he joined the illegal ranks of the People’s Movement for the Republic of Kosovo. In August 1988, he immigrated to Switzerland, where he continued his patriotic activities. In March 1998, Jashari joined the Kosovo Liberation Army, initially stationed at the Army Headquarters in Likoc, Drenica, before being assigned to military duties in the Llapusha area. He became known by the nickname “Kumanova” within the ranks of the Army. In May 1998, he participated in battles around the Llapushnik gorge, and on June 17, he launched an attack against Serbian forces attempting to advance toward Luzhnica. Jashari defended the positions of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the Serbian offensive on July 25 and 26, 1998, in the Llapushnik gorge and the village of Zborc, near Carraleva. On August 23, 1998, as the Serbian army attacked Kleçka, where the General Staff of the Kosovo Liberation Army was located, he organized resistance in Bajrak of Luzhnica. In the early morning of August 25, he launched a counterattack to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers. After several hours of fighting in Luzhnica, Ismet Jashari was martyred. In his honor, the 121st Brigade of the Pashtrik Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army was named “Ismet Jashari – Kumanova.” Additionally, a statue of him has been erected in Prizren, near the house of the Albanian League of Prizren. In 2009, the President of the Republic of Kosovo awarded him the “Hero of Kosovo” order. (In the photo: Ismet Jashari)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. I, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 713-714.
Photo: © https://m.facebook.com/BujarmuhadiniUQK/photos/ismet-jashari-komandant-kumanova-uqk/2410269479257646/
Graphic processing: AHCF
