Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told The extent of the mobilization in Kosovo from March 1999 depleted the civilian sector. For example, where there had formerly been 148 employees in the local government administration in Gnjilane/ 1 Gjilan, after March only 52 remained out of uniform and working as normal. Thus, although widespread mobilization took place, the VJ in Kosovo was still supplemented by "volunteers" and "armed civilians". The role of the 52nd Corps (Pristina/Prishtina) was to protect the territorial integrity of the FRY (particularly Kosovo), protect key installations and keep the internal lines of communication open. 2 According to the Clark-Naumann Agreement of 25 October 1998, the strength of the 52nd Corps (including the 52nd Military Police unit) was given as 9,068, although as already stated, the figure was far higher in reality. Yugoslav authorities declared a VJ equipment list during the establishment of the 3 OSCE-KVM. According to this declaration, the VJ had 197 tanks, 178 ACV/APC/AIFV and 358 artillery pieces. The Yugoslavs also announced that 37 MiG-21 jets were deployed at Pristina Airfield. Although the numbers were uncertain, additional equipment was present in Kosovo, such as anti-tank and surface to air weapons (AT-3 and SA-9 respectively), and this was monitored under a separate agreement by embassy defence attachés. The FRY Baseline of the 52nd Corps consisted of the following units: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 15th Armoured Brigade, Pristina 243rd Armoured Brigade, Urosevac 125th Motorized Brigade, Kosovska Mitrovica Tank Battalion, subordinated to the 125th Motorised Brigade, Pec 549th Motorized Brigade, Prizren 52nd Artillery Brigade, Gnjilane 52nd Military Police Battalion, Pristina The FRY Baseline also included the 83rd Aviation Regiment, located at Pristina Airfield. In addition, the 354th Infantry Brigade was located in Kursumlija, close to the Kosovo border in Serbia proper. VJ reserves needed to be drawn in from Serbia proper, although this was contrary to normal reserve practice, because of the limited number of male Serbs available in the province. Further, the addition of paramilitaries and volunteers from outside the province would have been a welcome addition to Serbian military planners. 4 The Border. The 261 km of border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania was bounded by a 5 km wide security zone into which access was strictly controlled. The villagers who lived in the zone were free to move and graze their cattle, within limits defined by the security forces owing to the danger from minefields and set ambushes. The villagers had special permits. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch3.htm (2 of 16)12/5/2003 11:48:47 AM