Battle of Belaćevac Mine

Battle of Belaćevac Mine
	Part of the Kosovo War
	; Power plants outside Obilić in 2009
Date	22 June – 1 July 1998; (1 week and 2 days)
Location	Belaćevac coal mine, Obilić, Yugoslavia
Result	Yugoslav victory
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army	Yugoslavia
Strength
30 men	100 men
Casualties and losses
10 killed	None
	9 Serb mineworkers abducted, presumed dead; 2 Kosovo Albanian civilians killed, 6 wounded and c. 8,000 displaced.

The Battle of Belaćevac Mine was a week-long clash between the Yugoslav Army (VJ), Serbian police (MUP) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in June 1998, during the Kosovo War. It was fought over the Belaćevac coal mine, which powered two generating stations that supplied electricity to most of Kosovo.

The KLA seized the mine on 22 June, taking nine Serb mineworkers hostage, converting the mine into a base of operations and taunting the Yugoslav authorities by sending daylight patrols within sight of the provincial capital, Pristina. Over the next seven days, Yugoslav authorities and the KLA negotiated over the fate of the mineworkers. Once negotiations broke down, the VJ and MUP attacked the mine and forced the KLA out. Ten militants were killed in the clashes. The VJ and MUP reported suffering no casualties. Though the mine was recaptured, the hostages were nowhere to be found, and it is presumed they were killed by the militants. As of June 2014, the location of the mineworkers' remains is unknown. No one has ever been convicted of their deaths.

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