Today marks 26 years since the heroic death of Ilaz Kodra, a central figure of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UÇK) and one of the early cell members of the armed resistance in Drenica.
Ilaz Ismajl Kodra was born on May 3, 1966, in the Kodra neighborhood of Prekaz. After completing his elementary education locally and high school in Skenderaj, he enrolled at the Higher School of Commerce in Peja. He completed his mandatory military service in Slovenia, an experience that would later shape his military leadership.
Inspired by the heroic stand of Tahir and Nebih Meha on May 13, 1981, Ilaz, like Adem and Hamëz Jashari, believed in the necessity of launching an armed resistance as the Yugoslav federation began to fall apart in the 1990s.
He maintained clandestine contacts with commander Adem Jashari and other founding members of the KLA. In 1991, they illegally crossed into Albania to undergo training and armament.
Before the war escalated, Ilaz Kodra actively helped strengthen the KLA’s combat units and mobilize volunteers. He also fought in the famous Battle of Rezalla e Re on November 26, 1997.
After the Prekaz massacre in March 1998, Ilaz and fellow fighters expanded KLA activity into nearly every village of the Drenica region. He returned to Drenica with other key commanders and their families, taking part in the broadening of the war front to Dukagjin, Anadrini, Neredime, Shalë, and Llap.
Ilaz Kodra was part of the KLA leadership in Drenica, working closely with figures such as Sami Lushtaku, Hashim Thaçi, Fehmi Lladrovci, Sylejman Selimi, Abedin Rexha, and many others. Together, they were involved in organizing and conducting the liberation war, especially in the Qyqavica mountains and Central Drenica.
After the death of Fehmi and Xhevë Lladrovci on September 22, 1998, Ilaz Kodra was appointed commander of the 114th Brigade, which was renamed “Fehmi Lladrovci” in honor of its fallen leader. The brigade operated across key strategic areas from Kroni i Mbretit to Skenderaj and Tërnac.
In April 1999, as NATO airstrikes hit Serbian forces, the occupiers retaliated by massacring civilians. Upon hearing that civilians in Verboc and Shtuticë were under threat, Ilaz Kodra moved to defend them.
On the morning of April 30, 1999, Serbian forces surrounded the area in a horseshoe formation and launched an attack. Ilaz Kodra fought face-to-face with the enemy and fell in the line of duty, defending his people until the very end.
In 2012, a statue of Ilaz Kodra was unveiled, along with the inauguration of his memorial tower-museum, preserving his legacy as one of the most iconic and courageous commanders of Kosovo’s liberation struggle.
