Battle of Desivojca

Battle of Desivojca
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Date 19–20 December 1944 Location Desivojca, Gollak, Albania (modern-day Kosovo) Result Ballist victory
Belligerents
Balli Kombetar Support: Germany	Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Sylë Zarbica Mulla Idriz Gjilani Muharrem Fejza Shefki Desivojca Sylejman Qarri Jusuf Baftjari Fazli Ramadani Lam Breznica	Vlada Popović Јovo Šotra
Units involved
Ballists from Gollak	17th Macedonian Brigade
Strength
Unknown	1,800 soldiers
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

The Battle of Desivojca took place on 19 December 1944 during World War II, between Yugoslav Partisans and Balli Kombëtar forces, in the territory of German occupied Albania.

On 1 December 1944, during a meeting in Tërpezë (Viti), it was decided that all Albanian nationalist forces (Ballists), who were collaborators of Nazi Germany,^[1] should unite to liberate and safeguard Gjilan and Ferizaj from the atrocities committed by the Partisans and Chetniks.^[2][3] Following this decision, the Committee of Albanian Resistance for Eastern Kosovo was established on 17 December 1944, in the village Zarbincë of Hashania. Mulla Idriz Gjilani was appointed as the commander in chief.^[2] The committee included resistance unit commanders from Gollak and Karadak, such as Xheladin Kurbalia, Jusuf Baftjari, Ymer Myqybaba, Sylë Hotla, and others, aiming to swiftly implement defensive measures against Partisan-Chetnik attacks along the border of Eastern Kosovo.^[2]

On December 19, 1944, the 17th Macedonian Brigade, composed of 1,800 soldiers,^[4][1][5] advanced towards Desivojca, seizing control of the surrounding Gollak Highlands before launching an attack on the village.^[6] Upon their arrival, the brigade immediately began perpetrating acts of violence and atrocities, including burning homes and killing innocent civilians.^[6] In response, a considerable number of Ballists, led by Mulla Idriz Gjilani and Hoxhe Lipovica, mobilized from the mountainous terrain to come to the aid of the villagers.^[2][6] On December 20, 1944, Ballist forces, under the command of Sylë Zarbica, launched a swift assault on the Partisans from the North, while Riza Shkodra led an attack from the south.^[6] Simultaneously, a battalion of Partisans, attempting to prevent encirclement, was ambushed and decimated.^[2][6] The confrontation culminated in the complete annihilation of the 17th Macedonian Brigade, resulting in devastating losses.^[6][1][5]

On 23 December 1944, following this decisive victory in the Gollak Highlands, local fighters from Desivojca and other parts of Gollak and Hashania, along with soldiers from Karadak under the command of Jusuf Baftjari, Sylë Hotla and Mulla Idriz Gjilani, marched towards Gjilan with the aim of reclaiming the city, yet their efforts were unsuccessful.^[7]

• Selmani, Aliriza (2011), Gjithkund ne Kosove solemnisht u kremtua festa e Fiter - Bajramit [Everywhere in Kosovo, the Fitr - Bajram holiday was solemnly celebrated] (in Albanian), Dituria Islame, retrieved 2023-11-12