Operation Libelle ("Dragonfly" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) was an evacuation operation of the German Armed Forces that took place on March 14, 1997 in the

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n capital of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

during the

Albanian Civil War The Albanian Civil War in 1997 was sparked by pyramid scheme failures in Albania soon after its transition to a market economy. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. Various other sources also describe the violenc ...

. In the same week,

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, and

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military forces evacuated their citizens from Albania. Operation Libelle was the first time since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

that German infantry fired shots in combat.

Situation in Albania

In early 1997, riots spread across Albania after the collapse of major pyramid schemes drove the country into a serious economic and social crisis, culminating in the

. After

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and police armories were looted by insurgents, criminals, and civilians, large parts of the country descended into chaos and violence. On March 11 all foreign nationals were instructed to leave Albania; Italian and U.S. forces conducted initial evacuation operations. By midday of March 13 the widespread disorder made leaving the country by conventional means nearly impossible. With nowhere to go dozens of people fled to the German embassy, which had not yet evacuated.

Timeline

March 13 * On the eve of the operation, the German

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, decided to reduce the reaction time of German Forces in case of emergency in Albania and ordered the

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''Niedersachsen'' to enter Albanian waters. March 14 *Five CH-53G heavy transport helicopters with 89 soldiers from the German

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contingent headed from Bosnia to

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. At the same time in Germany, three

C-160 The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, a ...

transport planes had been held in readiness to fly to the

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. The ''Niedersachsen'' waited in readiness in the port of

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, Albania. * 11.30 am - The German Government under Chancellor

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

decided to deploy German Forces to evacuate the embassy. Because the German military cannot operate abroad without a permission of the

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, the Government employed emergency rules and only informed the leaders of the parliament and the Defence Committee about the planned operation. The C-160s flew to

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

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. 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 had cancelled a separate evacuation operation in Tirana after a

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helicopter was hit by small arms fire, Colonel Glawatz decided to continue the approach. The first CH-53 landed on an abandoned airfield near the outskirts of Tirana. Perimeter security was established and the civilians started to board the helicopters. Insurgents in

armoured vehicles Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fight ...

approached the area and attacked the escaping civilians. As the German units returned fire, additional gunmen opened fire from the edge of the air strip. At least 188 rounds were fired at the evacuation force, and one CH-53 helicopter was hit and lightly damaged. At least one Albanian was wounded. * 4.09 pm - the last helicopter left Tirana. * The helicopters returned to

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

with the refugees after the successful end of the operation; they were then transported to Germany.

List of evacuated persons

External links

''Details about the helicopters used''
{{coord missing, Albania Albanian Civil War Conflicts in 1997 Libelle 1997 in Albania Modern history of Albania March 1997 events in Europe Combat incidents Battles and conflicts without fatalities Non-combatant evacuation operations