Kosovo Operation (1944)

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The Kosovo Operation (15 October–22 November 1944) was a series of military operations leading up to one final push during World War II, launched by the Bulgarian army (commanded by Major General Kiril Stanchev)^[1] with the assistance of Albanian and Yugoslav Partisans to expel German forces from Kosovo and prevent the retreat of German forces from Greece. German Army Group E was withdrawing through it from Greece towards Bosnia, since the escape route through Niš and Belgrade had been closed by the Yugoslav Partisan, Bulgarian and Soviet forces (during the Belgrade Offensive).

Kosovo Operation
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia, World War II in Albania and the Albanian Civil War (1943-1944)
Bulgarian armored brigade in November 1944 in Podujevë, Yugoslavia
Date 15 October – 22 November 1944 Location Kosovo, Albanian Kingdom Result Allied victory Allies capture Kosovo
Belligerents
Bulgaria Yugoslav Partisans LANÇ	Germany  Albania  Government of National Salvation
Commanders and leaders
Kiril Stanchev Mile Čalović Tomica Popović Enver Hoxha	Alexander Löhr August Schmidhuber Milan Nedić Midhat Frashëri Prenk Pervizi
Units involved
2nd Bulgarian Army 2nd Division 4th Division 6th Division 9th Division 12th Division National Liberation Army 24th Serbian Division 46th Serbian Division 1st Kos-Met Brigade 2nd Kos-Met Brigade 3rd Kos-Met Brigade 4th Kos-Met Brigade 5th Kos-Met Brigade National Liberation Movement 3rd Brigade 5th Brigade	Army Group E Kampfgruppe Langer Kampfgruppe Bredow Kampfgruppe Skanderbeg Balli Kombëtar Serbian State Guard

Part of a series on the
History of Kosovo
Prehistory Archaeology of Kosovo Neolithic sites Copper, Bronze and Iron Age sites
Antiquity Kingdom of Dardania Dardani
Roman Kosovo Dardania & Praevalitana Roman heritage in Kosovo Late Antiquity and Medieval sites
Medieval Kosovo Bulgarian Empire (681–1018, 1185–1396) First Empire Second Empire Kingdom of Serbia (1217–1346) Serbian Empire (1346–1371) District of Branković (1371–1412) Branković dynasty Moravian Serbia (1371–1402) Battle of Kosovo (1389) Serbian Despotate (1402–1459) Principality of Dukagjini (1387–1478) Dukagjini family
Ottoman Kosovo Eyalet of Rumelia Vilayet of Kosovo League of Prizren
20th century Kingdom of Serbia First Balkan War Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) under Germany Albanian Kingdom under Italy under Germany Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992) Socialist Autonomous Province
Contemporary Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2006) Autonomous Province 1991 Kosovan independence referendum First Republic Kosovo War (1998–1999) NATO bombing of Yugoslavia Kumanovo Agreement UN administration (UNMIK) 2004 unrest 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence 2008 unrest in Kosovo 2008 protests Second Republic (2008–Present) North Kosovo Crises 2011–2013 2012 Referendum Brussels Agreement Washington Agreement 2021 2022–2024 Ohrid Agreement Banjska attack
See also Timeline of Kosovo history Destruction of Albanian heritage Destruction of Serbian heritage
v t e

The operation resulted in the capture of Kosovo by the Communists, although the Germans were able to successfully withdraw most of their forces and break out of the encirclement the combined communist forces had set up. By the end of the month Bulgarian 9th Infantry Division pursued the retreating enemy and reached the defensive line Raška–Novi Pazar.