The Battle of Lapuà ¡nik (Serbian :ÃÂøÃÂúð úþô ÃÂðÿÃÂÃÂýøúð, Albanian: Beteja e Grykës së Llapushnikut) took place on 7-10 May and 25-26 July, 1998 in the village of Lapuà ¡nik, in the district of Pristina, in Kosovo during the Kosovo War.
On 9 May 1998, Ismet Jashari, who still had not fully recovered from the injuries he suffered during a previous ambush, led his forces into Lapuà ¡nik, where he defeated the Yugoslav Army and police and captured the town. Alongside with him were Kadri Veseli, Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and Ymer Alushani.
The Prià ¡tinaâÂÂPeàmotorway was obstructed for months, Lapuà ¡nik and the surrounding area was under rebel control, enabling the KLA fighters to move freely in a large part of the territory of Kosovo, which enabled them to organise and supply themselves with weapons.
On 7 May 1998, clashes erupted between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Yugoslav police. By 10 May, Lapuà ¡nik was under KLA control. Following the capture, the KLA subsequently built the Lapuà ¡nik prison camp.
On 25 and 26 July 1998, the Yugoslav police and army launched a counter-offensive against most of the KLA's major checkpoints and strongholds, including an attack against the KLA base in Lapuà ¡nik and the surrounding villages. Fighting broke out, which led to the retreat of the Kosovo Liberation Army into the Berisha mountains. Yugoslav forces seized back control of Lapuà ¡nik on July 27.
Kadri Veseli, a Kosovo Politician and former founder and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, recalled it as one of the most fierce battles, saying that the fighting in Lapuà ¡nik resonated throughout Europe and the Albanian diaspora, which increased the ethnic Albanian population's confidence in the strength of the Kosovo Liberation Army with a massive mobilization.
From mid-June to the end of July, KLA forces established a prison camp in Lapuà ¡nik where both Serb and Albanian civilian detainees were subjected to mistreatment, torture and murder. When Yugoslav forces retook Lapuà ¡nik and the surrounding areas, the KLA abandoned the camp and marched the prisoners towards the mountains, dividing them into groups. A group of nine was released while another group numbering some 12 people were shot, ten of whom were killed.