Today marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of Adem Jashari, the legendary commander and one of the founding figures of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Born on 28 November 1955 in Prekaz, Skenderaj, Jashari would go on to become a central symbol of Kosovo’s struggle for freedom.
He was the third son of Shaban and Zahide Jashari and completed his technical high school education in Skenderaj. Following the dissolution of Kosovo’s institutions in 1990, momentum grew within the underground structures of the People’s Movement of Kosovo (LPK) to organize armed resistance.
In November 1991, a group of activists, including Jashari, traveled to Albania for military training. However, Serbian intelligence quickly tracked their activities. On 30 December 1991, Serbian police and military forces launched an operation to capture the group. After the ensuing armed clash, Jashari and his entire unit went into hiding, remaining clandestine until the outbreak of the full-scale liberation war.
The KLA intensified its actions in September 1997, targeting 12 Serbian police stations. As Serbian state violence escalated, these operations evolved into direct battles. One of the most notable early confrontations occurred in late November 1997 in Rezallë e Re, where Adem Jashari, alongside Mujë Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi, Sylejman Selimi, Ilaz Kodra, Ilaz Dërguti and others, successfully halted a heavily armed Serbian police column. This became the KLA’s first recognized military victory, resonating widely among the population.
The Serbian regime had long targeted the Jashari family. On 5 March 1998, at dawn, heavily armed Serbian police forces launched a massive assault on Prekaz. Artillery units had been positioned earlier near the Jashari compound, and reinforcements arrived from several directions.
Inside the house were nearly all members of the Jashari family. The three-day siege, lasting from 5 to 7 March 1998, resulted in the deaths of Adem Jashari, many of his relatives, and paved the way for what would become known as the “Epopee of the Kosovo Liberation Army”—a defining moment in Kosovo’s modern history and resistance to Serbian oppression.
International figures have also acknowledged his legacy. The first UN administrator of Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, famously stated that if there were a Nobel Prize for the sacrifice for freedom, it would belong to Adem Jashari and his family. Former President Fatmir Sejdiu posthumously awarded Jashari the title Hero of Kosovo.
