16th | Top military occupations |
The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international force responsible for establishing a safe and secure environment in Kosovo, the self-proclaimed, independent and partially recognized landlocked country in the Balkans, which has been under United Nations administration since 1999.
KFOR entered Kosovo on June 12, 1999 under a United Nations mandate, two days after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. At the time of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Kosovo was facing a grave humanitarian crisis, with military and paramilitary forces from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in daily engagement. Ethnic tensions were at their highest and the death toll had reached a historic high. Nearly one million people had fled Kosovo as refugees.[1]
Since the establishment of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 1999, according to some international organizations Kosovo has become a major destination country for women and young girls trafficked into forced prostitution. According to Amnesty International, most women trafficked into Kosovo from abroad are from Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine.[2][3][4]
As of 2007, KFOR consisted of approximately 16,000 troops.[citation needed]
After the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence the commander of NATO forces in Kosovo said on February 20, 2008 that he did not plan to step up security in the tense north despite violent attacks by Kosovo Serb which forced the temporary closure of two boundary crossings between Kosovo and Serbia.[5]
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NATO’s initial mandate was:[6]
Today, KFOR focuses on building a secure environment in which all citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origins, can live in peace and, with international aid, democracy and civil society are gradually gaining strength. KFOR tasks have included:
The Contact Group countries have said publicly that KFOR will remain in Kosovo to provide the security necessary to support the provisions of a final settlement of Kosovo's status.[7]
KFOR contingents were originally grouped into 4 regionally-based multinational brigades. The brigades were responsible for a specific area of operations, but under a single chain of command under the authority of Commander KFOR. In August 2005, the North Atlantic Council decided to restructure KFOR, replacing the four existing multinational brigades with five task forces, to allow for greater flexibility with, for instance, the removal of restrictions on the cross-boundary movement of units based in different sectors of Kosovo.[7]
MNTF-N is deployed in the northern region of Kosovo, headquartered in Novo Selo and is commanded by Brigadier General Claude Mathey since May 30, 2008 (French Army).
Contributing nations: Belgium, Denmark, France (Lead nation), Greece, Estonia, Luxemburg, Morocco.
MNTF-E is deployed in the eastern region of Kosovo, headquartered near Uroševac and is commanded by Brigadier General Alan S. Dohrmann (U.S. Army) since November 13, 2009. The majority of U.S. Soldiers in MNTF-E come from National Guard units, with a different state taking over each rotation of approximately one year.
Camp Bondsteel serves as the headquarters for Multinational Task Force East (MNTF-E). Camp Monteith had been previously used by the KFOR, but is now the training camp for the Kosovo Security Force (formally the Kosovo Protection Corps).
Contributing nations: Armenia, Greece, Lithuania, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, United States (Lead nation). The official site is http://www.nato.int/KFOR/
MNTF-S is deployed in the southern region of Kosovo, headquartered in Prizren. This Task Force has been established on May 15, 2006 and is commanded by Brigadier General Robert Prader (Austrian Army) since May 29, 2008.
Contributing nations: Austria (Lead Nation), Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey.
MNTF-W is deployed in the region of Metohija, headquartered in Peć and is commanded by Brigadier General Agostino Biancafarina (Italian Army) since April 30, 2008.
Contributing nations: Italy (lead nation), Spain, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania.
MNTF-C is deployed in the region of Drenica, headquartered in Lipljan and is commanded by Brigadier General Kyösti Halonen (Finnish Army).
Contributing nations: Czech Republic, Finland (Lead nation), Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden.
At its height, KFOR troops numbered 50,000 and came from 39 different NATO / Non-NATO nations. The official KFOR website indicated that in 2008 a total 14,000 soldiers from 34 countries were participating in KFOR.[8]
The nations contributing the most personnel to KFOR at the time included:
Other contributing NATO Nations included:
Other contributing non-NATO Nations have included:
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Since the KFOR entered Kosovo in June 1999, 165 NATO soldiers have been killed, mostly in accidents. On October 19, 2004, it was confirmed that 115 NATO soldiers had been killed during the operation.[13] After that 50 more NATO soldiers were confirmed to have died, including 42 Slovak soldiers in a military plane crash in Hungary.
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