The Battle of Mashkullorë (March 18, 1908) () took place between Albanian rebel forces under the command of

Çerçiz Topulli Çerçiz Topulli (20 September 1880 – 17 July 1915) was an Albanian revolutionary and guerrilla fighter involved in the national movement operating in the mountainous areas of southern Albania. He was the younger brother of Bajo Topulli. He w ...

and the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

Background

On February 25, 1908, Çerçiz Topulli and his Albanian rebel group assassinated the Ottoman binbashi of

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

. After the assassination of the Ottoman binbashi, Çerçiz Topulli and his Albanian rebels fled to Mashkullorë, a village near

Armed resistance in Mashkullorë

On March 18, the Albanian rebels were surrounded by Ottoman forces. The Ottoman forces had over 150 soldiers and the Albanian rebels were outnumbered, nevertheless, Çerçiz Topulli was able to fight the soldiers, and emerge victorious. The Albanian rebel group of the detachment resisted attacks of the Turkish forces for an entire day and were able to break the siege. The Turkish forces lost 20 soldiers The Albanian rebels did not lose any soldiers, but Çerçiz Topulli and Myftar Axhemi were wounded.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Albanian National Awakening Battles involving the Ottoman Empire 1908 in the Ottoman Empire History of Albania Gjirokastër