After the end of the
Kosovo War in 1999, a three-mile "
Ground Safety Zone" (GSZ) was established between Kosovo (
governed by the UN) and inner
Serbia and Montenegro.
Yugoslav Forces (VJ) units were not permitted there, and only the lightly armed
Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs forces were left in the area. The exclusion zone included the predominantly Albanian village of
Dobrosin, but not
Preševo. Serbian police had to stop patrolling the area to avoid being ambushed. Ethnic Albanian politicians opposed to the KLA were attacked, including
Zemail Mustafi, the
vice-president of the
Bujanovac branch of
Slobodan Milošević's
Socialist Party of Serbia who was later assassinated. Between 21 June 1999 and 12 November 2000, 294 attacks were recorded. 246 in Bujanovac, 44 in
Medveđa and 6 in Preševo. These attacks resulted in 14 people killed (of which six were civilians and eight were policemen), 37 people wounded (two UN observers, three civilians and 34 policemen) and five civilians kidnapped. In their attacks, UÇPMB used mostly
assault rifles,
machine guns,
mortars and
sniper rifles, but occasionally also
RPGs,
hand grenades, and
anti-tank and
anti-personnel mines. The UÇPMB included
child soldiers from their mid-teens. The Liberation army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac aimed to create autonomy for the three Albanian municipalities within Serbia and drive Serbian institutions out and hold an election for unification with the Republic of Kosovo. On 4 March 2000, around 500 UÇPMB fighters attacked the city of
Dobrosin. The battle resulted in one UÇPMB and one Serb fighter killed, while another 175 were displaced. On 21 November 2000, members of the UÇPMB attacked the city of Dobrosin and the surrounding villages. Heavy fighting resulted in the VJ retreating to
Končulj,
Lučane, and Bujanovac. After four policemen were killed and two wounded by the UÇPMB, the VJ retreated back to the GSZ. On 6 January 2001, the UÇPMB took control of
Gornja Šušaja, and were well received by the locals. On 19 January, in command of
Bardhyl Osmani, raided VJ positions near
Crnotince. On 20 January, the VJ launched an attack against the UÇPMB stronghold. The battle lasted for four days when VJ forces were forced to withdraw. On 21 May 2001, members of the UÇPMB signed the
Končulj Agreement, which resulted in the full demilitarization, demobilization, and disarmament of the UÇPMB. The agreement stated that the VJ was allowed to enter the GSZ by 31 May 2001. At the same time, the Serbian side agreed to sign the
Statement on conditional amnesty for members of the UÇPMB, which promised amnesty to UÇPMB fighters on 23 May 2001. As the situation escalated,
NATO allowed the VJ to reclaim the GSZ on 24 May 2001, at the same time giving the UÇPMB the opportunity to turn themselves over to the
Kosovo Force (KFOR), which promised to only take their weapons and note their names before releasing them. More than 450 UÇPMB members took advantage of KFOR's "screen and release" policy, among them commander Shefket Musliu, who turned himself over to KFOR at a checkpoint along the GSZ just after midnight of 26 May 2001. ==Aftermath==