Twenty-six years ago, precisely on July 6th, one of the most glorious battles of the recent war for Kosovo’s liberation took place, known domestically and internationally as the “Battle of Loxha.”
A day earlier, at the notorious Peja Loxha checkpoint, Tahir S. Shala was brutally mistreated, resulting in fatal injuries inflicted by Serbian police-military and paramilitary-mercenary forces, leading to his death.
In the early morning hours, Colonel Tahir Zemaj was contacted by a courier sent by the Loxha regional headquarters, informing him that Loxha had been attacked and requesting assistance from operational units stationed in Isniq.
Colonel Tahir Zemaj, also commanding the 134th Brigade and responsible for the backbone of the 131st and 133rd Brigades, quickly issued operational orders. He invited me to his room, verbally delivering the order and briefing me on the situation, stressing the urgency of selecting an intervention unit. He had personally participated in selecting this unit alongside hero Salih Çekaj, emphasizing, “Loxha must be defended regardless of the cost we pay for it.”
Initially, I had two senior officers, Esat Ademaj and Faruk Xhemajli, summoned. Without delay, I informed them of the given orders, requesting experienced soldiers with prior combat experience to be selected and briefed promptly, outlining their duties and responsibilities to both themselves and the people of Loxha today.
The selection process was executed flawlessly. The unit assembled before me quickly briefed on the operational order, underscoring the significance of this intervention for us as an operational unit of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kosovo – FARK, decreed by the Supreme Commander of the War Staff, Colonel Ahmet Krasniqi, whom we recognized as the historical President and architect of Kosovo’s independence, Ibrahim Rugova.
The unit departed to assist the residents of Loxha, facing the imminent threat of massacre and oppression from the enemy who had penetrated deep into the village of Loxha. The inhabitants were unable to resist this fierce attack.
Among all selected soldiers, only one had not previously participated in combat. Sensing some uncertainty, I withdrew them, and the unit proceeded towards Loxha. Their morale was so high that on the way to Zllapek, they sang the song: “Besa, I have given my word, I have given my life for Kosovo.”
Due to unprecedented shelling from all sides by the enemy’s devastating arsenal, Zllopek had become the dividing line in the initial phase of the confrontation with Serbian military-police and paramilitary-mercenary forces in three directions.
The first direction was towards the village center, the mosque-school towards Peja.
The second direction was northwest, the left side towards Morina.
The third direction was northeast, the right side towards the road axis leading to Lugmir-Gorazhdec.
Several volunteers from the villages of Lugut të Baranit joined the battle: Kodradiqi, Vranoci, Krusheci, Kosuriqi, as well as Isniqi, Broliqi, Duboviku, and Strelci. I remember the soldier and later my companion Zymer Fak Sefaj, who made a significant contribution during the battle. Consulting him, I positioned the group from Kodradiqi to secure the rear towards Raushiq village. The group acted continuously throughout the operation. Zymeri was and remains the greatest contributor to the operational units during and after the Battle of Loxha.
Initially, our forces had accepted to switch to defensive mode, applying the “Kurth” tactic. We concentrated on the village mosque in the first and main treatment, while advancing from the right and left sides to encircle the enemy, aiming to cause unforeseen losses in the first and fierce strike to disorient them, fulfilling the primary condition to switch to offensive mode with all the forces and means available that day, also joining the local headquarters forces of Loxha.
After the armored units penetrated parallel to the school in Loxha village, near the village cemetery, I ordered the anti-tank unit led by soldier Reshat Beqiraj to open fire with the sole purpose of destroying armored vehicles, especially the signaler who continuously fired with the 12.7 mm machine gun from the armored vehicle.
Specifically, soldier Reshat Beqiraj of the anti-tank unit destroyed the signaler and the machine gun, causing the armored vehicle to retreat in the direction of Peja. This was the crucial moment when the rapid intervention unit switched to offensive mode, and after several hours of fighting, we drove the enemy out of the village towards Peja and Gorazhdec. However, they received significant reinforcements, and the main fighting continued around the homes of the Montenegrins in the Peja-Loxha and Loxha-Lugmir-Gorazhdec triangle.
In the yard of the Montenegrin houses, later discovered to be a bunker of a special unit brought to Kosovo from Nis after fierce battles, Senior Officer Faruk Xhemajli was severely wounded. He deserves special recognition for confronting Serbian forces in the first and main direction.
Esat Ademaj brought me the news of Faruk’s injury. I ordered him to immediately evacuate Faruk, provide first aid, and send him to the military hospital in Irzniq for treatment and surgical intervention, as he had sustained more than six wounds to the lower part of his body.
Soldier Sadik Berisha was the one who evacuated Faruk, informing me also about Sinan Shala’s injury. Together with Sinan, despite his own injuries, with the help of Zenun Luli, they initially moved Faruk to the schoolyard. Later, they sent him by car to the Dubovik ambulance. From Dubovik, they moved to the houses where operational units were stationed. Faruk, half-conscious, addressed Colonel Tahir Zemaj: “Commander, the soldiers in Loxha are at risk; we need your help.” After this, Faruk was sent to the military hospital in Irzniq.
In addition to Faruk’s evacuation and hospitalization, I instructed Esat to inform Commander Tahir Zemaj about the developments in the battle in Loxha, urgently requesting assistance to annihilate the enemy and reinforce Loxha with fresh troops and command staff.
After Faruk was wounded, I remained surrounded with soldier Enver Alaj and two other soldiers at the houses-bunkers of Vujoviq. We had penetrated to the door of one house when Enver stepped on the door to open it, and was shot in the chest with a pistol, falling in the corridor. At that moment, I pulled another soldier, Sadik Berisha, after detonating a hand grenade M-75, moving him out of the corridor.
I returned to communicate with Enver to provide assistance and possibly evacuate him, but at that moment, TNT explosives were activated in the form of a charge, detonating rapidly within a few seconds in the corridor and entering the adjacent room, causing the entry door to the house to be destroyed by the force of the TNT blast.
I was shocked by this event and returned to the corridor to check on Enver, but sadly, there were no signs of life.
Up to that moment, our operational units of the Ministry of Defense had one killed (Enver Alaj) and three wounded soldiers: Faruk Xhemajli, Sinan Shala, and Imer Elezaj. The enemy suffered significant losses with three police inspectors killed and dozens of soldiers and paramilitaries wounded, totaling over thirty casualties. The balance was 1:10 in favor of our forces.
Upon receiving the request for assistance, Commander Tahir Zemaj not only landed in Loxha within a very short time but personally led the intervention unit, leading them in the afternoon with over 150 soldiers and officers. He personally briefed the intervention unit on the ongoing operations, and Commander Tahir addressed them, saying: “Ramabaja, did you remove them from the Logja, oh Nazif Ramabaja?” The reply was, “Commander, Loxha defended itself and was re-liberated,” informing him that there were still enemy elements in the houses-bunkers of Vujoviq and caution was needed in that area until the entire area was cleared.
After this report, Commander Tahir Zemaj took command and personally led the ongoing operations and the next phase of the battle, continuing with the second phase of clearing the terrain until handing over the village of Loxha to the local headquarters forces and concluding the third phase.
Under Commander Zemaj’s command in the battles of Loxha were senior officers: Salih Cekaj, Rrustem Bruqi, Lumni Surdulli, Fadil Hadergjonaj, Bajram Stojkaj, Farush Thaçi, Shaban Dragaj, and the protagonist of these ranks.
In an attempt to destroy the enemy, who was well fortified in house-bunkers, Commander Tahir Zemaj personally participated, along with Rrustem Bruqi, Fadil Hadergjonaj, Shaban Dragaj, and the author of these lines. After taking control of their house-bunker, we found that underground passages had been opened towards Peja, extending 50-100 meters, through which fresh forces and weapons were being supplied, all of which we confiscated from the house’s cellars.
In the second phase of the battles, Rrustem Bruqi and the heroic senior officer Lumni Surdulli fell heroically, never to die. They were exemplary in boosting morale and intimidating the enemy forces, striking fear into their hearts.
After Rrustem Bruqi fell, Commander Zemaj ordered the Serbian special forces house-bunker to be set on fire, but cautiously from the left side, fearing that Rrustem’s body might be changing position, as we believed he was only wounded.
Senior career officer Lumni Surdulli, following Commander Tahir Zemaj’s order to eliminate the Serbian special forces headquarters, moved to the left side of the house-command center, identifying the direction from which the Serbian special forces could operate, through the window of the house-bunker and the pigsties toward Peja.
After pinpointing the target, Lumni targeted it with an American ambrus, simultaneously firing a sniper bullet for a fatal hit, and then fell down. I was 4-5 meters behind him near an object with the now deceased career officer Shaban Draga and two soldiers, one of whom was Gani Gashi.
I opened automatic rifle fire towards the window of the house-command center of the special forces and ordered others to do the same, as we now needed to extract Lumni’s body. Gani Gashi removed some bars from an object nearby (a stall) and, supported by the fire, they withdrew Enver Alaj’s body with another soldier to a safer place.
I laid him horizontally on the ground and placed my hand on his neck to ensure his pulse was working, but I couldn’t feel any pulse beats. I asked if anyone had a mirror, and a soldier offered a mirror near Lumni’s mouth to check if it fogged up, a sign that he was breathing, but even this was without any positive sign, so I ordered him to be taken further to the hospital.
Exceptional heroism and bravery were shown by soldiers Rexhë Osaj and Cuf Kurtulaj, who volunteered under the gunfire and under Commander Tahir’s command to withdraw the lifeless bodies of Enver Alaj and Rrustem Bruqi, despite the extreme risk of being shot by the enemy, especially during Rrustem’s withdrawal. The main protagonist was Rexhë Osaj, contested in the late hours of the night because some fighters from the village of Loxhe came to help, but Rexha was the main protagonist of Rrustem Bruqi’s withdrawal along with a group of volunteers from Loxhja.
After taking control of the house-bunker, which was a major resistance point, and clearing the area in the early hours of the morning, the village of Loxhe completely surrendered to our forces’ local command, marking the retreat of the Operational Units of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kosovo, FARK, back to Irzniq, from where we had started the intervention a day earlier, thus concluding the third phase, “The Battle of Loxhe.”
The following day, with military honors and the participation of operational units, the villagers of Isniq and its surroundings, the burials of Rrustem Bruqi, Lumni Surdulli, and Enver Alaj were held, a grand burial where we bid a final farewell to these martyrs who fell on the altar of freedom, never to die.
May God bless the heroes, martyrs, and the martyrs.
May God bless Loxha and the people of Loxhe.
May God bless Kosovo.
Credit: Botasot.info
