The battle took place on January 1–2, 1943, in the areas of Gjorm, Vranisht, Dukat, Tragjas and Tërbaç in south-western Albania.

Dukat and Gjorm became two of the centers of Balli Kombëtar, whose forces in the region were led by Euklid Karistopoli, a military commander, and Hysni Shehu, a prominent lawyer from Tragjas.

[2] Dimitro Kokalari, a commander of the Albanian National Liberation Front, created a partisan unit in the wider region of Mallakastër.

The commander of the heavily armed Italian troops in the area, which initially numbered 2,000, was Colonel Franco Clementi.

[1] After being defeated and routed from the battlefield, the Italian army engaged in reprisals against the civilians of the five villages of Dukat, Gjorm, Trëbaç, Tragjas, and Vranisht.