Zahir Pajaziti

Zahir Pajaziti (1 November 1962 – 31 January 1997) was one of the founders and early commanders of Kosovo Liberation Army. He was the first Commander of the KLA, known as "First Gun of Freedom".

Early life

Zahir Pajaziti was born in the village of Turuçicë in Podujevë. He originally hailed from the village of Orllan in the Llap region, where he also grew up. His father, Qerimi, and mother, Fatimja, both Albanian, had raised their five sons and two daughters with great difficulty, also enabling their education. He completed primary school in his hometown. In the 1976-1977 school year, he enrolled in the Police High School in Vushtrri. In the second year of teaching, the principal expelled him from the school on the pretext that he had not respected the school's disciplinary order.

He completed the second year of secondary schooling in Orllan, while the last two years he finished at the educational center "8 Nëntori" in Podujevë. In the summer of 1980, together with two of his friends, he went to communist Albania. He had crossed the border illegally through the Buna river and stayed there for 18 days. After returning from Albania, Zahiri was tortured by Yugoslav Security inspectors. Later at two secret camps in Tropojë and Kukës owned by the Albanian army close to the Albania-Kosovo border, Pajaziti along with Agim Ramadani and Sali Çekaj organised military training for Albanians from Kosovo.

Pajaziti joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1994.

Zahiri and his companions launched multiple attacks against Serbian police and perceived collaborators of the regime. He was also aware that in Drenica region, the KLA commanders, led by Adem Jashari and his fighters were active for the same cause. He had illegally crossed the border between then-Serbia and Montenegro and Albania multiple times, in order to prepare the young soldiers of KLA. On January 20, 1997, he returned to Kosovo for the last time from Albania. Many streets, squares, schools, and institutions in Kosovo carry his name. His life and actions have inspired numerous studies, songs, and poems.