Mefail Shehu

Mefail Shehu
Mefail Shehu (centre) with Mefail Mehmeti (right) and Begzat Vuli (left)
Born	1898 Zajas, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	November, 1945 Zajas, Albania under Germany (aged 47)
Allegiance	Albania (under Germany)
Service/branch	Balli Kombëtar
Years of service	1939–1945
Rank	Commander
Commands held	Balli Kombëtar
Battles/wars	National Liberation War of Macedonia

Mefail Shehu, also known as Mefail i madh or Mefail Zajazi was a Balli Kombëtar military commander and leader of the Kicevo region during World War II. He was a close associate of Xhem Hasa.

Mefail Shehu was born in Zajas in 1898. His ideology of Albanian nationalism was formed during his adolescence. As a child, Shehu witnessed the terror of the Serbian royalists under King Alexander where 11 Albanian populated villages in the east of Kicevo were razed.

Shehu was against the Italian occupation and in 1939 formed his own militia to fight against the fascists. On 19 April 1941, Kicevo was occupied by German forces. On 22 June 1941, Kicevo became a part of the new Albanian state under Germany. At this time, Mit’hat Frashëri published the Balli Kombëtar program around the new Albanian state. The Balli Kombëtar ideology greatly appealed to Shehu. Shehu formed the Balli Kombëtar in Kicevo and held many demonstrations to rally support. The people of Kicevo supported the Balli Kombëtar over the communists.

The Balli Kombëtar committee held a meeting in Zajas in 1942. Representatives of the Albanian tribes that attended the meeting elected Shehu as military commander of the region. Shehu transformed the bands of millitia into a proper army. Shehu's battalion patrolled villages around Zajas while commander Mefail Mehmeti(Mefail i Vogel) and his battalion patrolled from Greshnica to Kicevo. Shehu's third elected commander, Begzat Vuli operated from Kicevo to Berikove. At that period, the Ballists successfully repelled the Yugoslav partisans. Shehu not only fought in Zajas but also in Skopje, Gostivar and Debar. While fighting away from Zajas, Shehu became associated with Xhem Hasa.