 UÇPMB's uniforms, procedures and tactics mirrored those of the then freshly disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).The 1,500-strong paramilitary launched the insurgency in the Preševo Valley from 1999 to 2001, with the goal of seceding these municipalities from Yugoslavia and joining them to the protectorate of Kosovo.The EU condemned what it described as the "extremism" and use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group.