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'Drenica' (Serbian: Дреница) is a hilly region in central Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration. Located west of the capital Priština, its population is almost entirely Albanian. Traditionally this region showed strong resistance to any of the regimes installed in Kosovo by force, since Turkish rule in the Balkans until recently during Kosovo war.
The region comprises the municipalities of Glogovac and Srbica, which at the same time are the respective municipal capitals and major population centers of each municipality. Even prior to 1998, both these municipalities were entirely composed of Albanian population.
The villages that surround the two towns are the birthplace of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which began armed operations in Drenica in 1996. A KLA stronghold, the region saw many armed conflicts with Serbian police and military forces organized by Slobodan Milošević. By 1997, Albanians had begun to call Drenica a "liberated territory" because of the high local KLA presence. Drenica is also the scene of some of the worst abuses against civilians in Kosovo.

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See also

External links

See also

★ Ethnic cleansing

★ Operation Horseshoe

External links

★ A Week of Terror in Drenica Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo (HRW report)

★ HRW report on massacres on Albanian civilians in Drenica region