Adem Jashari
| Adem Jashari | |
|---|---|
A photograph of Adem Jashari at his memorial in Prekaz
|
|
| Born |
28 November 1955 Prekaz, AP Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia (now Kosovo) |
| Died | 7 March 1998 (aged 42) Prekaz, AP Kosovo and Metohija, FR Yugoslavia (now Kosovo) |
| Allegiance |
 Kosovo Liberation Army
|
| Years of service | 1991–98 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands held | Kosovo Liberation Army |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Hero of Kosovo |
Adem Jashari (28 November 1955 – 7 March 1998) was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a Kosovo Albanian separatist organization which fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 1990s and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania.
Beginning in 1991, Jashari participated in attacks against the Serbian police before travelling to Albania to receive military training. Arrested in 1993, he was released at the behest of the Albanian Army and later returned to Kosovo, where he continued launching attacks against the Yugoslav establishment. In July 1997, he was convicted of terrorism in absentia by a Yugoslav court. After several unsuccessful attempts to capture or kill him, Serbian police launched an attack against Jashari's home in Prekaz in March 1998. The battle that followed resulted in the deaths of 58 members of Jashari's family, including that of Jashari, his wife, brother and son.
Seen as the "father of the KLA", Jashari is considered a symbol of Kosovar independence by ethnic Albanians. He was posthumously awarded with the title "Hero of Kosovo" following the disputed territory's declaration of independence in 2008. The National Theatre in Pristina, Pristina International Airport and the Olympic Stadium Adem Jashari have been named after him.
Adem Shaban Jashari was born in the village of Prekaz, in the Drenica region of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, on 28 November 1955. Descended from Kosovo Albanian guerrillas who had fought Yugoslav forces decades prior, he was raised on Albanian war stories and was rarely seen without a gun. According to the journalist Tim Judah, Jashari "hated the Serbs, and although he was one of the KLA’s early recruits, he was no ideological guerrilla." Another source recounted: “He liked to get drunk and go out and shoot Serbs.”
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