Dakovica, or Gjakovë, is a city in western Kosovo that was severely damaged by fighting in 1998 and 1999. Yugoslavian forces were stationed there because of the city's close proximity to Albania and the risk of attack by the Kosovo Liberation Army from across the border. Fighting between the KLA and the Yugoslavian military combined with NATO bombings to destroy large areas of the city, and it is estimated that somewhere around 75 percent of the city's Albanian population was forcibly removed. Dakovica's population was 89 percent Albanian, 4 percent Serbian, and 7 percent other ethnic minorities before the 1999 conflict, but became almost entirely Albanian afterward.
Also called Ferizaji, Uroševac is a city in southern Kosovo that was shelled by Yugoslavian and Serbian forces in 1999, suffering some damage. After the war, nearly all remaining Serbians and non-Albanians fled the city due to lingering animosity. Some of these minority populations have begun returning to Uroševac and the surrounding municipality in recent years, but their numbers remain far below what they were before the violence and expulsions of 1999.
Prishtina is Kosovo's capital and largest city. It had largely been left out of the violence until NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999. Serbian and Yugoslavian forces began shelling certain districts of the city. They also engaged in the large-scale expulsion of Albanians from the city, deporting them to the border with Montenegro. NATO bombed certain strategic targets in the city as well, but most of the damage the city suffered came from Serbian and Yugoslavian shells and was confined to a handful of districts.
Belgrade, the former capital of Yugoslavia and current capital of Serbia, is one of the largest cities in Eastern Europe. NATO began bombing Belgrade in 1999, attacking strategic targets in the municipal area as well as in the center of the city. During the nearly three-month bombing campaign, NATO destroyed a number of hospitals, a hotel, and the Chinese Embassy. The NATO bombings remain a source of resentment among citizens of Belgrade.
