March 5, 1998 marked the third attack by Serbian forces against the commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Jashari, his family and the Jashari neighborhood in Prekaz, Skenderaj.
The fighting lasted for three days, on March 5, 6 and 7. 22 members of Adem Jashari's immediate family were killed, as were 33 members of the neighborhood and others. Bashkimi, Rifat Jashari's son who managed to escape from the area, and Besarta, Hamza's daughter, survived the attack.
The first attack on the Jashari family was made on December 30, 1991, while the second attack was carried out by Serbian paramilitary forces in January 1998.
On January 22, Serbian forces attacked the Jashari family, but even this battle, the children and women of the Jashari family resisted. However, in this battle that lasted nearly 30 minutes, Iliriana, the daughter of Rifat Jashari, and Selvetja, the daughter of Hamzë Jashari, remain injured. After this attack, friends and compatriots came to the Jashari family to show solidarity with them.
They asked the head of the family, Jashari, to withdraw the women and children from there. But the women and children had also made the decision to stay, saying that "if the boys are killed, we don't deserve to live".
And they decided to stay, they stayed to show the world that Albanians do not go anywhere beyond their land and houses.
The history of the Jashari family and its exhibits are housed in the Epic Museum of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
On the 28th anniversary of the heroic fall of the legendary commander Adem Jashari, the Jashari family, the nation's martyrs and all those who fell for freedom, the Government of Kosovo on March 5, 6 and 7 organizes the nationwide manifestation "Epopee of the Kosovo Liberation Army".
KLA OVL: Deeply insulting not to be invited to the solemn session for the Epic
Photo from the protest in support of former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, held in Prishtina
Photo: Driton Paçarada
The KLA War Veterans Organization has reacted after they say they were not invited to the solemn session of the Kosovo Assembly on the occasion of the anniversary of the KLA Epic.
The reaction states that it is paradoxical to talk about the glory of the Kosovo Liberation Army inside the Assembly hall but not invite those who fought.
"Precisely those men and women who with rifles in their hands raised and defended the ideal of freedom, those who sacrificed everything for this country, were today left out of a ceremony dedicated to their history and sacrifice. This is not only an institutional negligence, but a direct disregard for the fighters, the families of martyrs, the disabled and all those who carried the burden of the fight for freedom on their shoulders. It is paradoxical to talk about the glory of the Kosovo Liberation Army inside the Assembly hall, while leaving outside it the very people who created that history with their blood and sacrifice," the OVL-UÇK response states.
In honor of the 28th anniversary of the KLA Epic, the Government and the Assembly of Kosovo have solemnly gathered to remember and honor the sacrifice of the Jashari family.
March 5, 6, and 7 became months of epicness and sacrifice that revived an entire nation, while the Jashari family became a symbol of resistance.
The alignment of the KSF squads, Kurti: Just as Commander Adem Jashari might have dreamed
Photo: Driton Paçarada
In celebration of the 28th anniversary of the KLA Epic, the KSF ranks were lined up at the “Adem Jashari” barracks. At the lining up ceremony, President Vjosa Osmani, while honoring and appreciating the KLA's contribution, declared that the KSF is its worthy heir.
Osmani emphasized that the legendary commander Adem Jashari and his family transformed their blood into the seal of freedom.
"The Kosovo Liberation Army was the voice of an oppressed people. It was the organization of courage and hope that rose up against injustice. It was the national conscience that refused to be silent. The epic of March '98 is proof that freedom is won with sacrifice, with unity, with faith in our right to live freely in our centuries-old homes. Today, our pride does not rest only in the past. It marches before us with a modern uniform, with high professionalism and with unwavering commitment to our Republic. The Kosovo Security Force is a worthy heir to the KLA. It carries the ideal of freedom in its heart and holds the responsibility for the country's security in its hands," said Osmani.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in his speech and on the anniversary of the KLA Epic, said that the KSF is aligning itself with NATO armies and is just as Commander-in-Chief Adem Jashari might have dreamed, back when the Kosovo Army was just an idea and not believed in.
"The KLA today aligns itself with NATO armies, landing missions that build and maintain peace all over the world. And all this has happened, honorable participants, and it seems, under orders and commands given by a military barracks named 'Adem Jashari', here where we are gathered today, on March 5, 2026, in the early days of the KLA Epic, to remember and honor precisely the resistance of Commander-in-Chief Adem Jashari and his family. In front of us are lined up the squads of the Kosovo Army, just as Adem Jashari must have dreamed of them once, at a time when the Kosovo Army was just an idea that was believed by very few people," declared Prime Minister Kurti in his speech.
Kurti: We honor the sacrifice of the Jasharis with honest work and stable institutions
Photo: Driton Paçarada
"In addition to being a day of honor, today is also a day of reflection on the path we have taken and what awaits us. Today we are a state of a freedom-loving people who have always lined up on the side of justice. We honor the sacrifice of the Jasharis as we strengthen the Republic of Kosovo every day with honest work and stable institutions. This is the best way to turn memory into responsibility and history into a guide," Kurti said.
Prime Minister Kurti has stated that the Jashari family, with its heroism, became a national symbol and will remain in our consciousness as a reminder that freedom is paid for dearly.
"In those days of the confrontation of the will for freedom with the apparatus of oppression, in Prekaz history was written with fire and blood. The land became an altar of freedom, and a family became a national symbol. This sacrifice was immortalized in our collective consciousness and memory as a permanent lesson that freedom is paid dearly, that it is a value that is not negotiable and is an inalienable right," Kurti declared.
Representatives of political parties in the Kosovo Assembly also delivered commemorative and honoring speeches for the Jashari family.
Osmani: The sacrifice of the Jashari family in Prekaz changed the course of Kosovo's history
Photo: Driton Paçarada
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, recalled the epic of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), emphasizing that the resistance and sacrifice of the Jashari family in March 1998 in Prekaz gave a new direction to the history of Kosovo.
At the solemn session of the Assembly on the KLA Epic, Osmani said that the month of March, which in ancient mythology symbolized war and courage, became for Albanians the month of confrontations that determined the course of history.
According to her, on March 5, 6 and 7, 1998, resistance, sacrifice and heroism came together in Prekaz, when KLA commander Adem Jashari stood in his family's tower together with his family, choosing sacrifice over surrender and freedom over fear.
She emphasized that during those three days, March was transformed into a month of epic and sacrifice that revived an entire nation, while the Jashari family became a symbol of resistance.
"56 souls became a light for a people. In those days, the crack of guns was not just the sound of gunpowder, but a call for freedom - a cry that woke up Drenica, Kosovo and the whole world," Osmani said.
The President added that the March Epic is not just an emotional memory, but a founding act of the Republic of Kosovo, since from Prekaz began, as she put it, the "avalanche of freedom" that never stopped.
Osmani emphasized that the KLA's war was just and necessary, while the figure of the legendary commander Adem Jashari remains a reminder that freedom is not a gift, but a sacrifice.
She stated that the Jashari family remains a symbol of sacrifice and state dignity, adding that with its unwavering stance, it continues to stand on the highest pedestal of sacrifice for the homeland.
Haxhiu: The sacrifice of the Jasharis remained the foundation of our nation's resistance
The Speaker of the Parliament, Albulena Haxhiu, has said that in March 1998 the Jashars' house was like other houses in Kosovo.
She said that at dawn on March 5, numerous Serbian police forces isolated the village.
In her speech, she said that the commander Adem Jashari and everyone knew what day it was.
"In three days of fighting, the entire history of Kosovo passed through the Jashari and their resistance to not give in." "They left their land. In that house, all together, aware of what was coming, no one left. The sacrifice of all of them remained the foundation of our nation's resistance," she said.
She said that after Prekaz, the KLA became an irreversible reality.
Haxhiu added that the Epic is not just an event, but an eternal message that sacrifice for freedom can change the course of history.
"The land of Prekaz is not only heavy for what happened there, it is heavy especially for what is required of us. It requires prudence, character and unity when it is very difficult. It requires that freedom not be used but progressed," she declared.
Kurti: The Jashari family became a symbol of freedom and national unity
Photo: Driton Paçarada
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has commemorated the epic of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), describing the sacrifice of the Jashari family as the most important event in Kosovo's contemporary history.
At the solemn Government meeting on Thursday, Kurti said that the family's resistance in Prekaz in March 1998 represents a decisive turning point in national consciousness and in the unification of Albanians towards freedom and independence.
According to him, the Jashari family's confrontation with Serbian forces was extremely unequal, but of great historical significance.
"In the annals of European history, it is difficult to find a case where a single family resisted an occupying state. Even though the Jashari family was surrounded by thousands of heavily equipped forces, they fought and stood until the end, giving their lives for the freedom of all," Kurti said.
He emphasized that the family's decision not to surrender and to stand together by the legendary commander Adem Jashari made this event immortal in Albanian history.
Kurti added that at that time the women and children of the family chose not to be separated from the commander-in-chief, standing together out of the conviction that freedom requires sacrifice. According to him, the family towers were transformed into a fortress, while Prekazi became a symbol of the popular uprising.
He also emphasized that after this event the war in Kosovo took a different direction, increased mobilization to be part of the KLA and the Kosovo issue gained more international attention and increased
Kurti recalled Rifat Jashari's statement that "the family lost 56 members, but won the hearts of millions of Albanians."
Finally, Kurti emphasized that institutions are working to ensure that the history of this sacrifice is documented, preserved and passed on to future generations in Kosovo and in the diaspora.
On March 5, 6, and 7, 1998, Serbian forces surrounded and attacked the Jashari family's tower complex in Prekaz. After three days of fighting, 56 members of the family were killed.