Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia

Insurgency in Macedonia Date January – November 2001 Location Polog and Kumanovo regions of Macedonia near the border with FR Yugoslavia (Kosovo[a]) Result Ohrid Agreement Ceasefire established Albanian insurgents agree to disarm in exchange for greater ethnic rights. Belligerents NLA  Macedonia Commanders and leaders Ali Ahmeti Talat Xhaferi Fadil Nimani †[1][2] Tahir Sinani †[1] Rahim Beqiri †[3] Daut Rexhepi - Leka Boris Trajkovski Ljubčo Georgievski Pande Petrovski Ljube Boškoski Vlado Bučkovski Strength 5,000 - 7,000 insurgents 15,000[4] Casualties and losses 86 Killed (NLA claim)[5][6] 75 Killed (Macedonian claim)[7][8] 150 to 250 total dead and 1,000 total casualties[9] Civilian casualties: 70 dead (60 ethnic Albanians, 10 ethnic Macedonians) Other: 140,000 displaced[9] 2 EU monitors[10] 1 UK soldier killed[11][12]

v t e Insurgency in Macedonia Battle of Tetovo Operation Essential Harvest Ohrid Agreement

The Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia (January – November 2001) was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) militant group began attacking the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of January 2001. The goal of the NLA was to give greater rights and autonomy to the country's Albanian minority, who make up 25.2% of the population.^[12][13][14] There were also claims that the group, ultimately, wished to see Albanian-majority areas secede from the country,^[15] though high-ranking NLA members have denied this.^[12] The conflict lasted throughout most of the year, although overall casualties remained limited to several dozen for either side, according to the sources from both of the sides in the conflict.

Background

When it declared its independence on 8 September 1991, Macedonia was the only ex-Yugoslav republic that managed to secede non-violently from the federation. For this, Macedonia has been considered one of the bright spots in the former-Yugoslavia.^[16]

Although Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia as one of the poorest republics, socio-economic interventions done by the consecutive democratically elected governments managed to improve the economic picture in the country. According to the International Crisis Group, there was nearly 3% growth in 1999, and the second half of 2000 also saw steady growth, leading to a 5% GDP increase for the year. In January 2001, the government projected a budget surplus for the second year in a row. In 2000 the country’s emerging middle class began buying new cars, adding extensions to apartments and planning summer vacations abroad.^[17]

Although the Slavic-speaking Macedonian majority and the largest minority, the ethnic Albanians, have co-existed uneasily both before and after the country declared independence in 1991, their relations have generally been peaceful. All of the successive Macedonian governments have included Albanian parties as coalition partners, and all problems were resolved through political dialogue. The mood was more or less optimistic until the beginning of 2001.^[17]

Albanian demands in Macedonia

According to the 1994 census, there were 442,914 Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, making up for about 22.9% of the total population of the country (1,936,877), making them the largest ethnic minority alongside the majority Macedonian population of 1,288,330 (66.5%). The Albanians in Macedonia live in compact settlements in the western part of Macedonia, towards the border with Albania, in the north-western part, towards the border with Serbia and Kosovo, as well as in Skopje and Kumanovo. They comprised the majority of the population in the towns of Tetovo, Gostivar, Kicevo and Debar.^[18]

Since independence, the Republic of Macedonia had been trying to focus on its internal affairs. The promotion of democracy and harmonized inter-ethnic relations had been defined as the main goal of the new state. Since the first democratic elections in 1991, the Albanians in Macedonia used all constitutional and political opportunities to play a significant political role in the country. There were several Albanian political parties, whose behaviour and rhetoric (just as in the case with the parties of the Macedonian political block) depended on whether they were in the governing coalition or not.^[19] Despite these political fluctuations, the Albanian parties were included as coalition partners in all post-communist Macedonian governments.^[17]

Albanian UÇK insurgents hand over their weapons to U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Kosovo in 1999

The members of the Albanian ethnic group, as well as members of the other nationalities living in Macedonia, enjoyed a high degree of human rights and protection of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity. The latter was manifested through state-funded television programs that were broadcast in the Albanian language. Also, there were Albanian newspapers; primary and high-school education was in the Albanian language; Albanian folklore festivals were organized, etc. Albanians also had representatives in the institutions of the system.^[18]

Regardless of the existing socio-economic and political status, the Albanians in Macedonia as a whole began to demand greater political rights, such as making amendments to the constitution in order to declare the Albanians as a second titular nation of the country, recognising Albanian as a second official language and providing state support for the underground Albanian-language university in Tetovo. Albanians also claimed to represent as much as 30% and even 40% of the country’s population, not the 22.9% recorded in the official June 1994 census.^[20] Many Albanians even demanded autonomy within Macedonia.

In contrast, Macedonians asserted that the Albanian minority enjoyed sufficient rights, comparable to or better than other minority communities in Europe. The Macedonians also remained suspicious of Albanian demands for autonomy, which they feared could lead to eventual secession or partition and unification with Albania or Kosovo.^[20]

In 1994, some of the Albanian politicians in Macedonia radicalized their demands for collective political rights. The most extreme manifestation of these radical demands was the declaration in 1994 of an autonomous republic called "Illiryda" in the western part of Macedonia.^[18] Other pressing issues were the beginning of operation of the illegal university in the Albanian language in Tetovo in 1995, as well as the anti-constitutional raising of the Albanian flag in front of the municipal assemblies in Gostivar and Tetovo in 1997. The declaration of “Iliryda” as well as the raising of the Albanian national flag in front of Macedonian state institutions in Tetovo and Gostivar were considered by Macedonians as steps towards the creation of "parallel authorities" of the Albanians in Macedonia.^[18]

Macedonia and the Kosovo crisis

During the conflict in Kosovo in 1999, Macedonia opened its borders to thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees who were fleeing into the country. According to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on 17 May there were 229,300 Kosovo Albanian refugees in Macedonia. The number of Albanian refugees in Macedonia at that stage was more than 11% of the country’s population.^[21] According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, around 360,000^[22] Kosovo Albanian refugees remained in Macedonia after June 1999, which equaled to 18% of the population of the country.

Stenkovec refugee camp in northern Macedonia

Macedonia’s ability to receive refugees was limited, because contingency planning assumed only 20,000 refugees. Despite all the difficulties, Macedonia accepted refugees according to international standards until the end of the war.

The burden of having to address the needs of 360,000 refugees took its toll on Macedonia’s economy. Instead of experiencing modest growth as projected for 1999, the Macedonian economy shrank by as much as 10% of the GDP for the rest of 1999. Trade with Yugoslavia, Macedonia’s main trading partner, had collapsed, causing Macedonia to lose one of its most important export markets and a vital source of raw materials. Consequently, a number of factories had to close down, adding to the already high unemployment. At the same time, the main transit route for Macedonian exports to most of Europe had been closed, increasing the costs for exports. State coffers, almost empty before the outbreak of the crisis, were now practically exhausted.^[21]

Macedonians were worried about the impact that more than 360,000 Albanian refugees might have on Macedonia’s own ethnic mix. They were afraid that the refugees' presence could disturb the Republic’s demographic balance.^[23] Macedonians were worried about the possible destructive spill-over effects that could result from the newest phase of the Kosovo conflict^[23][24] and also feared that they had the most to lose. As a Chicago Tribune journalist stated in March 1999:

“People are afraid that after Kosovo comes Macedonia”.^[23]

In the same time, the insurgents of the Kosovo Liberation Army began crossing the border and entrenched themselves in ethnic-Albanian municipalities of the Republic. Macedonian authorities frequently intercepted and seized weapons deliveries en route to Kosovo.^[20]

Initial NLA attack

In the prelude to the conflict in late 2000, groups of armed Albanians started opening fire on Macedonian police and security forces located on the border with Kosovo. These events appeared to catch the Macedonian government and International Community by surprise.^[20] The first attacks occurred in the small village of Tanuševci located in northern Macedonia, near the border with Kosovo.

The conflict began on 22 January 2001, when a group of armed Albanians attacked the police station of the village Tearce near Tetovo, killing a police officer and injuring three others.^[25]

Arben Xhaferi, the leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians which was a part of the Macedonian government, criticized the attack against the police station and said the following words:

“The Tetovo incident is part of an orchestrated action against the government and a very crude attempt to overthrow it. Regardless of who is behind it, as a political party we deeply condemn this act. This is a deeply anti-Macedonian act, but also an act against the interests of the Albanians in Macedonia”.^[17]

In the same month, a group calling itself the National Liberation Army (NLA) claimed responsibility for the attacks against the police. Initial reports gave conflicting information about the NLA. Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski claimed that the rebels were primarily Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) members who had infiltrated the country from Kosovo. Macedonian officials accused NATO of not doing enough to disarm the Albanian insurgents, discouraging their encampment in the buffer zone (Ground Safety Zone) area between Kosovo and Serbia, or preventing their entry into Macedonia.^[20]

The NLA claimed that the rebel force comprised several thousand men, coming mainly from Macedonia.

After one month long clashes, by late February, the Macedonian special police units neutralized the positions of the NLA in Tearce and Tanuševci, temporarily driving them across the border into Kosovo.^[25]

Fighting in Tetovo

In the middle of March, NLA forces reappeared in the hills above Tetovo, a key northwest Macedonian town with an ethnic Albanian majority. The insurgents fired down on Macedonian positions using rifles, machine guns and mortars. At that point the NLA controlled at least seven villages to the north and west of Tetovo, all of which were up in the mountains and easily defensible.^[26]

Tensions soared further in Tetovo, when on 22 March 2001 two Albanian men, a father and a son, were shot dead during a routine search at a police checkpoint. The incident began when the car was stopped and the police officer, realising the driver was carrying a grenade, panicked and ran. The Albanian dropped to his knees and threw the grenade in the direction of the running policeman. It landed at his feet but failed to explode^[27]. At the moment the grenade was thrown, a cordon of Macedonian troops, positioned behind sandbags, shot the driver of the car. His fellow Albanian was also shot a few yards away. Moments later father was also shot as he tried to run from the car.^[28][29]

The NLA units’ strategic position allowed them to have an overview of the town. The front line between the NLA and the Macedonian security forces expanded along the wooded hills adjacent to the city center to the north.^[30] The same day a front opened in Tetovo, the NLA took control of the medieval city fortress north of the city center, and started shooting at police stationed in the urban areas. After the initial clash, the Macedonian police pushed the NLA out of Tetovo and captured the medieval fortress. The NLA were pushed back into the surrounding hills, where several houses were reportedly burning. Medical officials said one person was killed and at least 14 injured, including 11 police officers.^[31]

The government issued an ultimatum asking the National Liberation Army to lay down arms and leave the country, or face a full-scale offensive. The NLA rejected the ultimatum, announced a unilateral ceasefire, and called for political dialogue. In response, President Trajkovski claimed that the government first had to “neutralize the terrorist threat”, but agreed to start a political dialogue with legitimate Albanian political parties in Macedonia.^[25]

Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski declared in a televised speech to the nation that he would not negotiate with terrorists. He rebuked the United States and Germany, whose troops patrol the border from the Kosovo side as part of NATO's contingent there, for not doing enough to stop the rebels. Georgievski accused NATO of "creating a new Taliban in Europe" and allowing Albanian extremists to operate out of UN administered Kosovo.^[30]

Government's counter-offensive

After 5 days of guerrilla attacks against government forces in and around Tetovo, on 18 March 2001 the Macedonian government ordered a general mobilization of reservists in order to execute a wider counter-attack against the National Liberation Army's positions in the hills around Tetovo.

The offensive of the Macedonian security forces started on 25 March 2001.^[32] The offensive was launched towards the NLA's positions on the hillsides overlooking the city. More than 200 troops, aided by tanks and mortars, advanced about a kilometer up the hills fighting their way towards the village of Gajre while encountering fierce resistance from the rebels.^[33] By early afternoon the same day the village of Gajre was captured by the police. The police entered Šipkovica, but the NLA insurgents put up stiffer resistance at Lavce.

Macedonian government forces continued to move carefully to the north of Tetovo during the second day of the offensive (26 March 2001), consolidating their control of villages that were held by Albanian rebels for almost two weeks. After the Macedonian security forces’ artillery and infantry assault, most of the NLA insurgents had abandoned their positions farther north into the mountains stretching toward Kosovo.^[34]

Two days after the NLA was driven out from the greater part of Tetovo, on 28 March 2001 Macedonian security forces launched a second offensive, this time directed at clearing the insurgents from their remaining strongholds stretching from east of Tetovo to the village of Tanuševci, north-west of Skopje. During the second offensive, the security forces attacked the NLA positions near the villages of Brest, Malino Malo, Gracani and Gosince, where clashes took place earlier in March before the later clashes took place around Tetovo.^[35]

The government said the guerrillas fled northwest towards Kosovo, which they “used as a rear base”.

On 31 March 2001, the Macedonian government announced an end of its offensive against the NLA armed groups.^[36]

The Macedonian government claimed to have killed about 80 NLA guerrillas during the offensive. The rebels claimed to have killed at least a dozen Macedonian border police. Hospital officials in Tetovo said 30 police officers and 10 civilians were wounded. One civilian, an Albanian man, was killed.^[37]

The NLA’s dislodging from the hills above Tetovo led to a month long lull in the conflict.^[25]

Escalation

During the one month-long calm period, resulting from the offensive of the Macedonian security forces, the government launched roundtable discussions with Macedonian and Albanian political parties on legislative reforms. However this did not end the violence.^[25] On 28 April 2001, eight Macedonian police officers were killed in an NLA ambush,^[38] and their bodies were mutilated. Reports concluded that the attackers must have been informed by radio about the route of the police vehicle.^[39]

It was later discovered that the ambush was executed by Ismail Shinasi (alias Komandant Hoxha), Ceka Ilaz (alias Komandant Qori) and Ceka Bilal (alias Komandant Brada) - all three of them and most of their people were born in Kosovo and were veteran members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Ceka Bilal was a member of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency and was one of the main organizers for weapons smuggling in Kosovo.^[39]

In reference to the attack, Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski stated:

"We are fighting terrorists, not rebels, and we have exercised the utmost restraint in tackling them".^[25]

The murder of the 8 Macedonian soldiers and police officers led to riots in Skopje, Bitola and Veles in which ethnic Macedonians attacked Albanian-owned businesses and shops.^[40] At least 10 Albanian shops in the city of Bitola were destroyed, and a dozens of buildings were damaged.^[41]

In order to suppress the riots, the Macedonian government imposed a curfew in Bitola, and Premier Georgievski announced that his cabinet considered declaring a state of war in order to have greater flexibility in fighting the NLA insurgents. According to the Macedonian Constitution a state of war would give enhanced powers to the President and the army, and allow for presidential rule by decree, fewer restraints on the army, the banning of demonstrations, a nation-wide curfew, and sealing the country's borders.^[25]

However during the entire conflict, the United States urged Macedonia not to declare a state of war in its fight against the NLA.^[42]

Fighting in Kumanovo

In the beginning of May 2001, a large group of NLA rebels infiltrated Macedonia from Kosovo and set up bases in several villages to the north of Kumanovo.^[25] This armed group of the NLA insurgents was known as the “113 Brigade of the NLA” and was led by the Kosovo Albanian Fadil Nimani.^[1]

On 3 May, the NLA launched another ambush on Macedonian security forces in Vaksince, near Kumanovo and killed two Macedonian soldiers and kidnapped a third. The three soldiers were on a border patrol which was returning from routine duty when it was ambushed near the village.^[43]

State radio said that the rebels had claimed the area around Vakcince as their "liberated zone".^[44]

On the same day, the Macedonian security council decided to engage in a new offensive against the NLA, in order to drive them out of their strongholds in the villages north of Kumanovo.^[45]

The people in the villages held by the NLA were given 15:00 to evacuate before the security forces could launch the offensive. Army spokesman Gjordji Trendafilov told the Associated Press that the NLA were holding thousands of villagers as human shields.^[44] The offensive started with the shelling of selected targets in Vaksince by military helicopters and field artillery.

In the next several days, the Macedonian security forces shelled NLA positions in the villages of Slupcane, Orizari and Otlja. Afterwards, Macedonian police and infantry units advanced. On 7 May 2001, Macedonian Army officials announced that in the previous three days the Macedonian security forces had managed to destroy 14 NLA entrenched positions, 8 machine-gun bunkers, 7 sniper nests, 6 control points, 3 arms storage facilities, and one mortar position. Army officials also stressed that during the operations only selected targets were being hit, in order to evade civilian casualties and unnecessary material damage.^[46]

The most intensive clashes during the first week of the offensive in Kumanovo happened on 8 May 2001 at the entrance to the village of Slupcane. Army infantry launched an onslaught, causing insurgents to leave their positions and retreat towards Vaksince. Army helicopters then intercepted them with machine-gun fire and inflicted casualties. The same day a position of 20 NLA insurgents was destroyed by the Macedonian Army in the “Mining colony” that was located close to Lojane.^[47]

Mi-24 were also used by the Army of Macedonia

On 25 May 2001, the Macedonian security forces started the long awaited general offensive against the NLA in Kumanovo.^[48]

The fighting that continued the next day turned into urban warfare, where the police and army infantry had to fight for every house in the large villages of Vaksince and Lojane. The NLA resisted fiercely. A special police unit called the “Tigers” who specialised in urban counter-guerrilla fighting were also deployed^[49]

After two weeks of heavy fighting, on 26 May 2001 the Macedonian security forces recaptured Vaksince and Lojane, two major Kumanovo villages which were NLA strongholds.^[50]

During the battle for Vaksince, Macedonian forces killed Fadil Nimani (alias “Komandant Tigri”) who was the chief commander of the NLA in Kumanovo.^[2]

Macedonian troops continued their offensive towards the NLA strongholds of Slupcane and Matejce, both about 30 kilometres northeast of the capital Skopje.^[50]

After several clashes in which the NLA terrorists were routed, on 29 May 2001 Macedonian police and army units entered the village of Matejce. While searching the houses, the police found weapons and military equipment. In the village the police discovered a system of underground tunnels which provide connection between several houses.^[51] After the Macedonian security forces captured Matejce, the NLA initiated a coordinated attack on the village from the directions of Otlja, Orizare and Slupcane. The insurgents were firing with machine-guns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenades“.^[52][53]

During the next two days, Macedonian security forces carried out an offensive towards Slupcane, which was shelled on a daily basis. In the meantime, there was news that there was renewed fighting in the villages north of Tetovo, more than a month after the Macedonian security forces crushed the rebels in an offensive in March 2001.^[54]

On 8 June 2001, the Macedonian Army and the police launched a new major onslaught against the NLA in their strongholds in the remaining villages that were occupied in the beginning of May 2001. The main goal of the operation was to secure the Lipkovo dam, which was held by the insurgents. The NLA, in breach of the Geneva Convention, stopped the supply of water for Kumanovo, thus causing a humanitarian crisis for the civilian population in the city. The Army captured the Lipkovo lake and pushed the NLA back into the village.^[55]

Unlike Vaksince, Matejce and other villages on the battleground, Lipkovo still had 10,000 people that were not evacuated by the government or the Red Cross. In order to prevent civilian casualties, government representatives ordered the civilians in Lipkovo to evacuate the village. However, the call was not answered since the NLA insurgents in the village did not allow the International Red Cross to evacuate the civilians. The Mayor of Lipkovo, Husamedin Halili, issued a call opposite to the government’s – he said to the civilians that they would be safer in the basements of their houses than to come out of the village where they would find themselves in the cross-fire between the security forces and the NLA.^[56]

In order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophy in Lipkovo upon the civilians that did not evacuate, on 12 June, President Boris Trajkovski ordered a halt to the offensive and declared a ceasefire. During the ceasefire, Kumanovo would again be provided with drinking water, and the civilians in Lipkovo would receive food, water and medicine by the OSCE.^[57]

The NLA abused the ceasefire that was announced by the Macedonian security forces and set fire to an historic orthodox church in Matejce, which was considered one of the most important cultural monuments in Kumanovo, as well as to houses of Macedonian civilians. Before the Macedonian police entered the village in June 2001, the church was used as a headquarters for the NLA.^[58]

The continuation of the Macedonian offensive in Kumanovo was temporarily stopped and put on standstill, because a new front was opened by the NLA which managed to pull the attention away from Kumanovo. On 13 June 2001, insurgents who had infiltrated previously, declared a “free territory” in Aracinovo, a suburb of the capital Skopje.^[59]

During the one month long battles in the Kumanovo region, the Macedonian security forces managed to recapture several villages that were NLA strongholds and clear them from the insurgents' presence. According to Macedonian official claims, security forces killed at least 30 NLA insurgents^[60][61] one of which was confirmed as “Komandant Tigri” killed during the battle for Vaksince,^[1][2] while the NLA claims they lost 16.^[62]

Aftermath

Ceasefire and disarmament

Monument of the Defenders of Macedonia

After the Ohrid Agreement, the rebels agreed to a ceasefire in June, however there were other agreements in August, before both sides settled on a final one in January 2002. Under the Ohrid Agreement, the Macedonian government pledged to improve the rights of the Albanians of the country. Those rights included making the Albanian language the second official language, increasing the participation of ethnic Albanians in government institutions, the police and the army. Most importantly, under the Ohrid Agreement, the Macedonian government agreed to a new model of decentralization.

The Albanian side agreed to give up any separatist demands and to fully recognize all Macedonian institutions. In addition, according to this agreement the NLA was to disarm and hand over their weapons to NATO.

Operation "Essential Harvest" was officially launched on August 22 and effectively started on August 27. This 30-day mission involved approximately 3,500 NATO and Macedonian troops, whose mission was to disarm the NLA and to destroy their weapons. Just hours after NATO wrapped up the operation, Ali Ahmeti told reporters attending a news conference in the rebel stronghold of Šipkovica that he was dissolving the National Liberation Army and that it was time for ethnic reconciliation.

Several months after the end of the conflict, some armed provocations persisted. Small bombings and shootings occurred. The most serious provocations happened when three Macedonian police officers were killed in an ambush by ethnic Albanian gunmen on November 12, 2001.^[63]

Casualties and displacement

Casualty figures remain uncertain. By 19 March 2001, the BBC reported that Macedonian security forces claimed five of their soldiers were killed, while the NLA claimed that it had killed 11.^[64] No definitive Albanian casualty figures were cited at the time. On 25 December 2001, the Alternative Information Network^[65] cited figures of 63 deaths claimed by Macedonian security forces for their side and 64 deaths claimed by the NLA for their insurgents. About 60 ethnic Albanian civilians are thought to have been killed while possibly about ten ethnic Macedonians died during the conflict (Macedonian authorities did not release figures for the latter at the time).^[66] As of December 2005^[update], the fate of twenty "disappeared" civilians —13 ethnic Macedonians, six ethnic Albanians and one Bulgarian citizen— remains unknown.^[67] By August 2001, the number of people displaced by the war reached 170,000, mostly Macedonians. Of these 170,000, 74,000 were displaced internally. As of January 2004^[update], 2,600 people remain displaced.^[68] Two European Union monitors were killed during the conflict. One British soldier was also killed.

NLA Freedom Museum

As a result of the conflict, some Albanians of the Čair Municipality in Skopje established in 2008 a 'Museum of Freedom' presenting what they consider the battles of the Albanians in the region from the period of the Prizren League in 1878 until the 2001 insurgency. It is also known as the NLA Museum and commemorates those who died during the conflict. Items include paramilitary clothing and insurgent flags used in 2001. Many Albanians see it as a non-military continuation of the uprising. Former NLA leader turned politician, Ali Ahmeti stated at the opening ceremony “My heart tells me that history is being born right here, in Skopje, the ancient city in the heart of Dardania. Our patriots have fought for it for centuries, but it is us today who have the destiny to celebrate the opening of the museum. Fighters from Kosovo are here to congratulate us...” ^[69]

Recent developments

Bust dedicated to fallen Macedonian soldier, Mile Janevski-Džingar, in Makedonska Kamenica

In April 2010, a weapons caché believed to be intended for terrorist action was discovered near the border with Serbia, it included uniforms with Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) insignia. On May 12, four militants were killed by the Macedonian police, in a village close to Kosovo. The police seized four bags of explosives, anti-infantry mines and other weapons. Those killed were wearing black uniforms and UÇK insignia was found in the vehicle.^[70] In the following days, as Macedonia petitioned Kosovo for any information that it might have possessed, 70 ethnic-Albanian criminals linked to the Albanian Mafia were arrested for illegal weapons possessions. Among the arrested were 4 men, a father and his three sons. They are believed to be linked to the men that were killed on May 12.^[71]

Alleged war crimes

Alleged war-crimes included the likes of a three-day operation by the Macedonian police against the ethnic Albanian village of Ljuboten, from August 10–12, 2001, which left ten civilians dead and resulted in the arrest of more than 100 ethnic-Albanian men, many of whom were severely beaten and tortured while in police custody.^[72] According to the Macedonian government, there was an insurgent presence in the village; however, a Human Rights Watch investigation on the ground in Ljuboten found no direct evidence of this. These events led to the trial of the then-Macedonian Minister of Internal Affairs, Ljube Boškoski, in the International War Crime Tribunal in The Hague.^[72] Eventually, he was found not guilty.^[73]

The bombing of the 13th-century Orthodox monastery Sveti Atanasij in the village of Lesok is considered a war-crime by some.^[74] However, no one has ever claimed responsibility for the attack and Albanian guerrilla officials have desmised all responsibility and placed the blame on Macedonian special forces saying it was another poor attempt to link the NLA to Islamic extremism. However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that near the rubble that had once been one of the most revered religious sites for the Macedonian Orthodox Church, there lay a dead donkey, its bloated body daubed with red paint: spelling out the letters UÇK, the Albanian abbreviation for the rebel National Liberation Army.^[75] This incident is to this day disputed and the monastery is now under-going reconstruction.^[76] On the other hand, the Macedonian forces themselves destroyed a mosque in the village of Neprosteno. The mosque was rebuilt in 2003 with funding from the EU.

The monastery at Matejce, near Kumanovo, was also damaged in the fighting and the church of St. Virgin Hodegetria was vandalized by the Albanian terrorists who spray-painted and carved anti-Christian and Albanian-nationalist symbols into the church's 14th-century frescoes. Similar attacks were carried out against Serb churches and monasteries in Kosovo by ethnic-Albanians.^[77]

Another incident which is claimed by the Macedonian government to be a war crime was that of the so-called Vejce massacre, in which Albanian insurgents ambushed and killed 8 Macedonian soldiers. After attacking their lightly armoured Humvee vehicles with small arms fire and RPGs, the Macedonians got out and exchanged fire with the hostile insurgents in a short skirmish. Afterwards, the soldiers started retreating. Half of the patrol managed to escape, one soldier was shot and the others were captured. Four of the victims were executed with machetes and bayonets and had their genitalia removed and set alight. News of the massacre sparked local uprisings against ethnic-Albanians in several towns and cities across Macedonia, and such revolts included burning and vandalising shops and Mosques. Surviving members of the ambushed group of soldiers gave eyewitness testimony of the killings. They claimed that the massacre was carried out by a group of 15-20 bearded men. To this day, the bodies have not been released to the public or to civilian investigators and autopsies were carried out in a military morgue.^{[78][79][80][81]}

See also

• Operation Essential Harvest
• Preševo valley crisis
• Operation Mountain Storm
• 2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence

References

External links

• Casualties and displacement
• Macedonian offensive in March and May 2001. Video footage of the fighting activities.
• "Macedonia: Step back from the abyss", BBC, December 29, 2001
• "Macedonia: Understanding History, Preventing Future Conflict", United States Institute of Peace, Special Report No. 115, February 2004
• "Macedonia's Civil War: 'Made in the USA'", Antiwar.com, August 20, 2001
• Chronology of the war
• Youtube video of an ethnic standof in Tetovo CTV
• Battles -9/2001
• Battles - 3/2001
• Tom Walker (2001-06-10). "Macedonia On Brink of War". Sunday Times. http://emperors-clothes.com/news/massing.htm. 
• Macedonia On War Footing Over Kosovo Border Provocations
• November Battles, Start of War, January 2, 2001
• 2002 attacks
• Boskovki interview
• War in the Balkans, again?

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