First Attack on Prekaz

First Attack on Prekaz
Part of the Insurgency in Kosovo (1995–1998)
Date First attempt: 22 January 1998 Second attempt: 23 January 1998 Location Prekaz, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo) Result Both attempts: KLA victory
Belligerents
FR Yugoslavia	Kosovo Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Shaban Jashari Hamëz Jashari Ilaz Kodra
Units involved
Yugoslav Army Serbian police	Kosovo Liberation Army
Strength
Unknown	First attempt: Several militants Second attempt: Several militants and thousands of Adem Jashari's supporters
Casualties and losses
Unknown	None
Two Jashari children wounded by Serbian police

The First Attack on Prekaz occurred on 22 and 23 January 1998 during the Insurgency in Kosovo when the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police attacked the Jashari compound in Donji Prekaz, Kosovo. The goal of the attack was to arrest one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Jashari after he was charged with terrorism in absentia along with several other individuals in a trial that was criticized for not conforming to international standards.^[1]

Adem Jashari was not present during the attack and the police retreated after being repelled by men inside the compound on 22 January. The police made a second attempt a day later but were repelled by thousands of Adem Jashari's supporters that descended on the village.

The attack was followed by a larger attack initiated months later on 5 March 1998, which resulted in the deaths of Adem Jashari, his brother Hamëz, and nearly sixty other people, many of them women, children, and elderly people.