Gjakovë/Gjakova (Albanian indefinite/definite form) or Djakovica/Ðakovica (Serbian) is a city located in Kosovo at 42.39° North, 20.43° East. The town bore the name Jakova well into the 19th century in remembrance of Jak Vula, the catholic that donated the land for the building of the first mosque that started the town. Serbs claim that its name may derive from the word djakon ("deacon") in Serbian, most likely a reference to the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of St. Joanikije at Devic, an unlikely event considering that Devic is located 50 miles away.

The name is also given to the surrounding administrative district, which covers an area of about 586 km². Before the Kosovo War it had a population of about 131,700. Kosovo Albanians constituted 93 per cent of this community. The post-war population is now estimated to be about 115,000 people. [1]

Gjakova in the Kosovo War

Gjakova town had a pre-war population estimated by the OSCE to be some 61,400 people, of whom 89% were Kosovo Albanian, 4 per cent were Serb and 7 per cent from other national communities. The town was extremely badly affected by the war and its aftermath, suffering great physical destruction and large-scale human rights abuses.

Yugoslav units stationed in and near the town were attacked on several occasions by NATO forces. In one incident, NATO aircraft misidentified a convoy of Albanian refugees and attacked it, killing dozens of civilians.

Actions on the ground had a devastating effect on the town and the surrounding area. According to the ICTY, OSCE, and international human rights organisations, about 75% of the population was forcibly expelled from the town by Serbian police and paramilitaries as well as Yugoslav forces, with many civilians being killed in the process. [2][3]

Large areas of the town were destroyed, chiefly through arson and looting but also in the course of localised fighting between government security forces and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The actions of the government forces in Gjakova formed a major part of the United Nations war crimes indictment of the then-President Slobodan Milosevic. [4]

Most of the Albanian population returned following the end of the war, and most of the non-Albanian population fled or was forced to leave. Acts of revenge against Serbs and other non-Albanians occurred after the war's end, the most notable case being the destruction of the unfinished Holy Trinity Cathedral.

External links

• The official website of the Municipality of Gjakova