According to the Israeli historian Shaul Shay, the ambush represented the first clash of the Kosovo War between the VJ and foreign mujahideen.

The Human Rights Watch advisor Fred C. Abrahams conjectures that the mujahideen may have deliberately been led into a trap by the KLA as part of a plan to reduce the influence of Islamic extremists within the organization's ranks.

Albanian officials later alleged that two of the mortar rounds fired by Yugoslav troops had landed inside Albania, sparking further tension between the two countries.

[3] Kosovo, a province predominantly inhabited by ethnic Albanians, is of great historical and cultural significance to Serbs,[4] who formed a majority there before the mid-19th century but by 1990 represented only about ten percent of the population.

[7] Once Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Milošević to oversee the province, enforced by thousands of heavily armed paramilitaries from Serbia-proper.

[9] It gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom rejected the non-violent resistance to Yugoslav authorities advocated by the politician Ibrahim Rugova and favoured a more aggressive approach.

[10] The organization received a significant boost in 1997, when an armed uprising in neighbouring Albania led to thousands of weapons from the Albanian Army's depots being looted.

[11][12] Cross-border arms smuggling flourished; the unit charged with securing the Yugoslav border was the 549th Motorized Brigade, under the command of General Božidar Delić.

The attack prompted thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the ranks of the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.

In exchange for American military, financial and intelligence support, KLA leaders promised not to carry out any actions outside Kosovo, not to continue participating in the drug trade, and not to accept help from Islamic radicals.

[17] In the early morning hours of Saturday, July 18, 1998, the mujahideen and KLA militants left their base in northern Albania and departed for Kosovo.

[18] The guerrillas were carrying a large quantity of arms and ammunition, which significantly impeded their movement and obliged them to move slowly across the Albanian–Yugoslav frontier.

[17] According to the Israeli historian Shaul Shay, the incident represented the first skirmish between the VJ and foreign mujahideen during the Kosovo War.

Survivors told monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that KLA fighters had led the mujahideen into a trap and fled.

[20] Yugoslav officials denied shelling the border and accused the Albanian authorities of turning a blind eye to KLA arms smuggling in northern Albania.

State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters that the alleged shelling was likely an attempt to prevent the insurgents from re-entering Kosovo.

Rubin said that the U.S. was opposed to the creation of a pan-Albanian state, and emphasized that calls for its establishment were a "very dangerous development that could affect the stability of the region.

"[31] Russian officials accused KLA fighters of stoking the clashes, and called for peace talks between the militants and Yugoslav authorities.