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Second Battle of Preševo
	Part of The Insurgency in Karadak–Gollak (1941–1951) and World War II in Yugoslavia
Date	9 - 15 November 1944
Location	Preševo valley, at the time Bulgaria, modern-day Serbia
Result	Yugoslav partisan victory
Territorial; changes	Partisans capture Preševo and Gjilan
Belligerents
Balli Kombëtar	Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Xheladin Kurbalia; Qazim Zekbasha; Jetë Rainca; Sulë Hotla	Abdullah Krašnica
Units involved
Karadak battalion	2nd Kosovska Brigade; 3rd Kosovska Brigade
Strength
700-1,000 men	Unknown
Casualties and losses
500-600 Civilians killed	unknown

The Second Battle of Preševo was an armed clash between the Yugoslav partisan and the Ballist forces. The battle lasted for a several days until the Ballist forces were finally defeated and forced to withdraw, and the Preševo valley soon returned into Partisan hands.

Background

From September 18th to 24th, partisan forces attempted to take control of the Preševo Valley and the villages on the Skopska Crna Gora mountain near Kumanovo, which were then under the control of Balli Kombëtar.^[3]^[4] However, the Ballists, along with the German Heeresgruppe E, dealt the partisans a significant defeat, forcing them to withdraw from the area. Despite this setback, in early November, Abdullah Krašnica began preparing for a new offensive on Preševo.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Battle

From November 9 to 15, 1944, the partisans launched an assault, engaging in battle and successfully forcing the Ballist forces to retreat into the broader Karadak Mountains. This allowed the partisans to capture the town and the surrounding region.^[7] This victory granted the partisans an unobstructed path to seize Gjilan.^[8] Tahir Zaimi of the Second League of Prizren wrote in his book that after the fall of Preševo, the "Bulgarians and Serbian-Macedonian Partisans" shot between 500 and 600 Albanians.^[7]

References

^ "Beteja e rekës raincës by Nijazi Ramadani - Issuu". issuu.com. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
^ Acta Iugoslaviae historica. Prosveta. 1970. p. 162.
^ Zaugg, Franziska (2016). Albanische Muslime in der Waffen-SS: von "Grossalbanien" zur Division "Skanderbeg" (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 169–170. ISBN 978-3-506-78436-0. Ganz anders berichtete der Divisionskommandeur der »Skanderbeg«, Schmidhuber. Nach seinen Angaben hatten die Albaner bei der Räumung Makedoniens durch Bulgarien die Gelegenheit genutzt und ihre »Sicherungs- (nicht Landes-) Grenzen bis zum Bereich ihres eigenen Volkstums nach Südosten hinausgescho ben bis unmittelbar vor SKOPLJE, von dort bis KUMANOVO – PRESEVO – BUJANOVCE. Zudem stellte Schmidhuber bei den Albanern einen »Abwehrwillen gegen die bulgarischen Eindringlinge« fest und dass »bei dem Hass gegen die Bulgaren [...] ein zäher Abwehrkampf zu erwarten« sei.
^ ^a ^b Kosovari. dituria254. p. 34. Keshtu, ne diten e Bajramit, me 19 shtator 1944, sulmuan forcat partizane dhe hyne ne Luginen e Rainces, por pas me shume se 12 ore luftimesh te ashpra, u thy en nga forcat vullnetare te komanduara nga Hoxhe Lipovica me te tjere. Ngs luftimet mbeten te vrare mbi 100 partizano-cetnike dhe u zu rob nje batalion i Brigades se Dyte te Kosoves prej 206 vetash.
^ Arifi, Fejzulla (2022-01-01). "Emërndriturit e Sllupçanit..." Emërndriturit e Sllupçanit, Halid efendiu, Mulla Sadiku dhe Mumin efendiu (in Albanian).
^ Hnilicka, Karl (1970). "Das Ende auf dem Balkan 1944/45. Die militärische Räumung Jugoslaviens durch die deutsche Wehrmacht" (in German). University of Michigan. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ ^a ^b titulli.com. "Lufta e përgjakur më 19 nëntor 1944, ditën e Bajramit në Preshevë". www.titulli.com. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
^ "Šta bi danas rekao Abdulah Krašnica - Život - Dnevni list Danas" (in Serbian). 2010-12-12. Retrieved 2023-03-16.