Zahir Pajaziti

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Zahir Pajaziti
Zahir Pajaziti Monument, 2018.jpg
Statue of Zahir Pajaziti in Prishtina
Born1 November 1962 (1962-11)
Podujevo, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
(now Kosovo)[a]
Died31 January 1997 (age 34)
Vučitrn, FR Yugoslavia
(now Kosovo)[b]
Commands heldCoat of arms of the Kosovo Liberation Army.svg Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
AwardsHero of Kosovo (posthumously)

Zahir Pajaziti (1 November 1962 – 31 January 1997) was an Albanian commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). He was the first Commander of the KLA, known as "First Gun of Freedom". He was killed on 31 January 1997 in a gunfight with Yugoslav forces.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, Pajaziti remained in Kosovo while battles raged in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the Tirana military academy in Albania he undertook military training and later with the ascension of Sali Berisha to power, his government arrested Pajaziti in 1995.[1] Later at two secret camps in Tropojë and Kukës owned by the Albanian army close to the Albania-Kosovo border, Pajaziti along with Agim Ramadani and Sali Çekaj organised military training for Kosovan Albanians.[2] Pajaziti joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)[2] in 1997. He and his group developed in the Llap region of Kosovo.[1] Pajaziti, Sali Çekaj and Adem Jashari were the leaders of the first Kosovo military groups, which were trained in Albania in 1991–1992. Pajaziti became the KLA commander for the Podujevo area and his deputy was Hakif Zejnullahu.[3] He was part of the KLA main staff.[3] Later that year, he was killed in a gunfight in Vushtrri[4][2] with the Yugoslav army.

In 2008, the president of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, declared Pajaziti a Hero of Kosovo.[5] He is commemorated by a statue on Mother Teresa Boulevard in Pristina.[6][7]

References[]

  1. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as a part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognised as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states have recognised Kosovo at some point, of which 15 states later withdrew their recognition.
  2. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as a part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognised as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states have recognised Kosovo at some point, of which 15 states later withdrew their recognition.
  1. ^ a b Pettifer, James (2012). The Kosova Liberation Army: Underground War to Balkan Insurgency, 1948–2001. Hurst. p. 69. ISBN 9781849041874.
  2. ^ a b c Kuperman, Alan J (2002). Tragic Challenges and the Moral Hazard of Humanitarian Intervention: How and why Ethnic Groups Provoke Genocidal Retaliation (PhD). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. pp. 317–318. hdl:1721.1/36342.
  3. ^ a b Schnabel, Albrecht; Gunaratna, Rohan (2006). Wars from Within: Understanding and Managing Insurgent Movements. Marshall Cavendish Academic. p. 179. ISBN 9789812104298.
  4. ^ Pettifer, James (2005). Kosova Express: A Journey in Wartime. C. Hurst & Co. p. 51. ISBN 9781850657491.
  5. ^ Milazim Kadriu: Zahir Pajaziti është një nga themeluesit e Shtabit të Përgjithshëm të UÇK-së
  6. ^ Zubkovych, Alina (2017). Dealing with the Yugoslav Past: Exhibition Reflections in the Successor States. Columbia University Press. p. 158. ISBN 9783838269436.
  7. ^ Björkdahl, Annika; Kappler, Stefanie (2017). Peacebuilding and spatial transformation: Peace, space and place. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 9781317409427.

Further reading[]

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