Initially directed against Bulgarian, German, and Italian occupation following the Invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, it later targeted the Yugoslav Partisans who were attempting to gain control of the area.
In early October 1951, amidst the post-war era, the state security service of Yugoslavia (UDBA) sought to eliminate Hasan Remniku and Mustafa Kokaj, the last of the Ballist and Kachak rebel leaders.
UDBA agents, disguised as individuals offering assistance to smuggle Kokaj and Remniku across the border into Albania, lured them into an ambush set up by Yugoslav forces on October 6, 1951.
[13] Drini mentioned the villages along the Albanian-Bulgarian border—Lubishtë, Blinicë, Ramatovë, Vitovë, Zhegër, Hadevë, Pogragja, Uglarë, Hashtiçe, and Remnik—where the Bulgarians had caused a "hellish situation.
Among the worst incidents on March 13, 1942, in the villages of Kabash, Remnik, Zhegër, Nasale, Gjylekar, Uglar, Shurdhan, and Llashticë, Bulgarian soldiers, along with Serbian civilians, committed "the most heinous acts" against women and girls while the Albanian men were imprisoned.
[13] From 12 to 15 March 1942, Serbian Chetniks, in collaboration with the occupying Bulgarian army, besieged the village of Remnik and perpetrated violence against the local Albanian population.
[13] After Albanians in Karadak faced severe abuse, Isuf Pidiqi, a local leader, traveled to Skopje to plead with a Bulgarian military commander to end the massacres.
[23][24][25][26][page needed] On May 23, 1944, Chetnik units attacked, raided, and carried out massacres in the villages of Gollak, including Brainë, Prapashticë, Hajkobillë, Dabishec, Nishec, Bërvenik, Metërgoc.
[27] In the summer of 1944, Albanian communists in Gollak established partisan cells in several villages, including Brainë, Prapashticë, Dabishec, Nishec, and Koliq.
The first Yugoslav offensive by the 22nd Division on Velegllava in Kika Mountain, Gollak, began on June 28, 1944, with a force of 500-600 men from Toplica, Vranje, and Leskovac.
After 12 hours of fighting, the Yugoslav partisans were defeated, suffering 200 killed and 131 captured, while the Ballists lost 17 men, including commanders like Abdi Gjoka and Bajram Poliçka.
With Bulgaria’s capitulation on 9 September 1944, Albanian Ballist forces in Karadak occupied and de facto annexed territories previously under Bulgarian control (Preševo, Bujanovac, Skopje, Kumanovo) with the state of Albania.
[3][32][33][31][34] These forces, primarily from Karadak, were commanded by leaders such as Jusuf Baftjari, Xheladin Kurbalia, Limon Staneci, Ibrahim Kelmendi, Sylë Hotla etc.
[35] Immediately after the incursion into Preševo and Bujanovac, Albanian Ballists undertook measures to organize and gather volunteer groups to prevent the advance or any eventual attack from the Yugoslav National Liberation Army.
[21] On that day, the Albanian Ballists in Bujanovac received assistance from several soldiers of the IV Regiment of the Second League of Prizren under the command of Colonel Fuad Dibra.
[37] Simultaneously Operations in Preševo on 19 September led to initial Partisan gains, but local Kachaks from Karadak counterattacked, reclaiming the area and inflicting heavy casualties.
[37] Initially suffering losses, Mulla Sadik Haliti managed to disable a machine gun position, forcing the partisans to retreat and face further resistance from Hotla's units.
[45] This is evidenced by a report dated November 16, 1944, from the Headquarters of the XVII Brigade to the Kumanovo Division, stating that there were no armed men left in the villages of Otlja, Lipkovo, Orizare, and Slupčane.
[45] Within a day or two, the partisan forces committed atrocities, killing and massacring civilians in the following villages: 17 in Vaksince, 14 in Konjare, 8 in Slupčane, 9 in Orizare, 10 in Otlja (where 27 were also imprisoned), 26 in Matejče, 6 in Vištica, 3 in Lopate, and 13 in Ropalce.
[59][60][61] On December 1, 1944, during a meeting in Tërpezë (Viti), Ballists allied with Nazi Germany decided to unite to protect Gjilan and Ferizaj from Partisan and Chetnik atrocities.
[62][63][32] Subsequently, the Committee of Albanian Resistance for Eastern Kosovo was established on December 17, 1944, in Zarbincë, with Mulla Idriz Gjilani as commander in chief.
[56] Mulla Idriz Gjilani, the leader of the forces from Anamorava, opposed the attack, warning that while they could seize the city, they couldn’t hold it, urging instead a guerrilla approach.
[56] However, Partisan leaders, including Vlado Popović, saw this as an opportunity to draw the resistance in, then counterattack with reinforcements from Pristina and Ferizaj, which arrived by midday, turning the tide.
[56] Violence and terror soon engulfed the villages around Gjilan, where Albanian casualties from clashes with Serbian and Bulgarian forces, as well as Partisan reprisals, mounted from until March 1945.
[56] The Gjilan region, which includes parts of Karadak, Gollak and Anamorava, suffered some of Kosovo's highest losses, though exact figures remain uncertain.
[45] Vesel Rexhepi, estimated 4,500 Albanians killed or massacred in the city of Gjilan alone, while Tahir Zajmi suggested nearly 8,000 deaths across the broader area—though this number is likely exaggerated.
[22] During the ambush, Isuf Pidiqi managed to seize a police officer's rifle and killed three OZNA officers—Dimitrije Mihajlović, Tihomir Petković, and Stanimir Petković—while wounding another.
[45] Reports indicate that similar events took place in various villages, including Shipashnicë, Hogosht, Kopërnicë, Vruçec, Lower Livoq, Tërpezë, Koretin, Livoç i Epërm, and others.
[69] Vojo Vojvodić, a Montenegrin leader of the Yugoslav Partisans, assured Jusuf Baftjari that if he surrendered, he would face imprisonment under the Amnesty Law, rather than execution.
[6] In early October 1951, the state security service of Yugoslavia (UDBA) planned to liquidate Hasan Remniku and Mustafa Kokaj, the last of the Ballist and Kachak rebel leaders.