Operation Libelle

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Operation Dragonfly

Part of the Lottery Uprising, 1997

Date	March 13 - March 14, 1997
Location	Tirana, Albania
Result	German Success

Belligerents

Germany

Albanian Insurgents

Commanders

Colonel Henning Glawatz

unknown

Strength

>100

unknown

Casualties and losses

no casualties, one helicopter damaged

unknown number of casualties, no reported deaths

Operation Dragonfly, in German Operation Libelle, was an Evacuation Operation of the German Armed Forces in Tirana, capital of Albania, on March 14, 1997. Operation Libelle was one of similar other evacuation operations. In the same week, American and Italian forces evacuated their citizens from Albania. Operation Libelle is known in Germany as the first time since World War II that German soldiers had been involved in combat.

1 Situation in Albania
2 Timeline
3 List of evacuated persons
4 External links
5 See also

[edit] Situation in Albania

In March, 1997 riots spread all over Albania after the breakdown of the financial system that drove the country into a serious economical and social crisis. This crisis ended in the so-called Lottery Uprising. Thousands of people lost their entire savings after nearly all pyarmids of the usurers branch had collapsed. The people took their rage against the state on the streets. The state had initiated the collapse by disregarding its own supervisory duties. After weapon depots of Army and Police had been looted by the insurgents, the danger for foreign citizens in Albania increased enormously. During the uprising, some 1500 people had been killed. Thus on March 11 all foreigners were told to leave Albania, and Italian and American forces carried out first evacuation operations. On midday of March 13, it was not longer possible to leave the country since the rioters had broken down national peace and order. With nowhere to go, 98 persons fled into the German embassy which had not been evacuated yet.

[edit] Timeline

March 13

On the eve of the operation, the German Minister of Defence Volker Rühe decided to reduce the reaction time of German Forces in a case of emergency in Albania and ordered the frigate F122 "Niedersachsen" to move into Albanian waters.

March 14

Five CH-53G heavy transport helicopters with 89 soldiers from the German SFOR - contingent headed from Bosnia to Dubrovnik, Croatia. At the same time in Germany, three C-160 transport planes had been held in readiness to fly to the Balkans. The "Niedersachsen" waited in readiness in the port of Durrës, Albania.
11.30 am - The German Government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl decided to deploy German Forces to evacuate the embassy. Due to the fact that the German military is without permission of the German Parliament strictly prohibited to operate abroad, the Government used emergency rules and only informed the faction-leaders of the Parliament and the Defence Committee about the planned operation. The C-160s flew to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. The task force, consisting of CH-53s and soldiers from combat-, supporting- and medical units, lifted off to Tirana.
3.39 pm - Although American Forces cancelled another evacuation operation in Tirana after a Blackhawk helicopter was hit by small arms fire, Colonel Glawatz decided to continue the approach. The first helicopter landed on an abandoned airfield near the outskirts of Tirana. A secure perimeter was built up and the civilians started to board the helicopters. A gunfight broke out when insurgents in armoured vehicles attacked the escaping civilians. More gunmen opened fire from the edge of the air strip. The German soldiers returned fire and tried to keep the attackers at bay.
4.09 pm - The last helicopter left Tirana.
After the successful end of the operation, the refugees were brought to Podgorica, from where they travelled to Bonn, Germany.