The battle occurred during the Albanian Uprising of 1911, in which the Malësor tribes undertook multiple successful military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

The Hoti tribesmen in Helm managed to hold off the Ottomans, killing 25 soldiers, wounding roughly the same amount, and capturing 20.

[5] The main portion of the battle took place between Tuzi and Koplik (in modern-day Albania), whereby 3,000-3,300 Malësors fought against 28,000 Ottoman soldiers.

The Ottomans had initially attacked Deçiq, which was protected by 600 Albanian tribesmen, with 6 battalions, 2 artillery units, and 9 machine guns.

An Austro-Hungarian military report at the time claimed that the Albanian tribesmen had attacked Tuzi and the hills to the east, which were called Mali i Hotit (Mountains of Hoti).

[5] In 1913, at the Treaty of London, the powers of Europe decided to grant approximately half of Malësia to Montenegro while the rest was ceded to Albania.