KLA terrorist attacks in Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia

[proka89]

Gunmen take police hostage in Macedonia, call for Albanian state

(Reuters) - About 40 armed men wearing uniforms of a disbanded ethnic Albanian guerrilla army from Kosovo took several police officers hostage in northern Macedonia overnight, Macedonian police said on Tuesday.

The men left the police post near Macedonia's border with Kosovo after several hours.

Macedonian Interior Ministry official Ivo Kotevski told a news conference that the gunmen said they were part of the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Speaking in Albanian, they told their captives "We will have an Albanian state".

"This morning, Macedonian state institutions were the target of a terrorist act," Kotevski said.

The incident was reminiscent of an insurgency in Macedonia in 2001, when security forces fought rebels demanding greater rights for the former Yugoslav republic's large ethnic Albanian minority.

That conflict followed a 1998-99 war involving the KLA in neighboring majority-Albanian Kosovo, a former province of Serbia.

A peace accord in 2001 ended the fighting in Macedonia. The guerrillas laid down their arms and entered politics in exchange for greater rights and representation for an Albanian minority estimated to account for about 30 percent of Macedonia's 2 million people.

Macedonia was promised integration with NATO and the European Union but progress has been blocked by a dispute with Greece over Macedonia's name, which it shares with a northern Greek province.

Ethnic tensions remain, fueled by frustration at the lack of progress toward the European mainstream and the jobs and prosperity many in Macedonia hope will follow.

Gunmen take police hostage in Macedonia, call for Albanian state| Reuters

‘Albanian Paramilitaries’ Claim Macedonia Govt Attack

Kosovo newspaper Koha Ditore on Monday published a press statement signed by ‘Commander Kushtrim’ and the National Liberation Army claiming responsibility for the attack that left a small crater in the ground near the government building on Friday but caused no injuries.

Macedonian police said they were investigating the attack but offered no details about the type of the weapon used, or who might be behind it.

The blast resembled a previous attack on October 28 last year when two projectiles blew holes in the roof and walls of the government building. That case remains unsolved.

The same unknown organisation and the same commander claimed responsibility for that attack as well.

It said that it was unhappy with the implementation of the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord, which ended an armed conflict between Albanian militants and the Macedonian security forces.

It also said on social networks that it had caused explosions near two police stations in the towns of Tetovo and Kumanovo in western and northern Macedonia on December 9 last year. No one was injured in these incidents either.

The two towns were at the centre of the 2001 armed conflict.

Many observers have warned recently that the could be attempts to destabilise inter-ethnic relations amid the ongoing scandal over mass surveillance scandal after the opposition accused the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of spying over 20,000 people.

It’s been alleged that ethnically-charged incidents could be used to divert attention from the scandal that is crippling the government’s credibility.

The Ohrid Accord which ended the 2001 conflict foresaw constitutional changes providing greater rights and institutional integration for the ethnic Albanian minority who make up about a quarter of the population of the country.

The accord resulted in the Albanian fighters in the then National Liberation Army disarming and later forming a political party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, which today sits in government.

DUI representatives contacted by BIRN declined to comment about the latest blast.

‘Albanian Paramilitaries’ Claim Macedonia Govt Attack :: Balkan Insight

Albanians are now trying to provoke conflict in Macedonia again (two attacks in april), and when Macedonian government decide to respond by force, i guess they will again claim that they are innocent victims.

 

[proka89]

Macedonia police fight an 'armed terrorist group'

Police in Macedonia have been fighting an armed group from an unidentified neighbouring state, say officials.

Some 20 officers have reportedly been injured in clashes in the northern town of Kumanovo, close to the borders with Kosovo and Serbia.

Interior ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said that the "terrorist group" were armed with bombs and automatic rifles.

He added that they had been planning attacks on state institutions.

Mr Kotevski said that the "well-trained" group were putting up a violent resistance and that the operation against them was ongoing.

"This is a risky operation because it is an area with narrow streets and police need to perform house-to-house searches very carefully," he told AFP news agency.

Police armoured vehicles have reportedly helped seal off a suburb of the town which lies some 40km (25 miles) north of the capital, Skopje.

Witnesses have reported hearing intense shooting there since early on Saturday.

Helicopters are reported to be still circling the town and smoke can be seen rising from several houses.

Several police officers have been taken to hospital with serious injuries, according to MIA news agency.

Mr Kotevski said that some residents of the Diva Naselba neighbourhood had been sheltering the armed group which had entered the country illegally.

The mayor of the town, Zoran Damjanovski, has urged local people to remain calm.

Local media say that the area of Kumanovo at the centre of the fighting mainly inhabited by ethnic Albanians.

In 2001, rebels demanding greater rights for the ethnic Albanian minority launched an uprising against the government.

Further conflict was averted by a peace agreement, which guaranteed ethnic Albanians greater recognition, but tensions have continued to simmer.

Macedonia's President Gjorge Ivanov has cut short a visit to Moscow and is returning to Macedonia to deal with the incident.

The government is already under pressure over claims of illegal wire-tapping and the alleged cover-up of the death of a man in 2011.

Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in the capital on Wednesday.

Macedonia's political crisis dates back to last year's elections, when an opposition party made allegations of electoral fraud, denounced the government as a dictatorship, and boycotted parliament.

Macedonia police killed in clashes with 'terrorists' - BBC News

Macedonia: 3 police officers dead, 20 injured in clashes with armed group in city of Kumanovo

KUMANOVO, Macedonia – Three police officers were killed and at least 20 others were injured in clashes early Saturday between security forces and an armed group in the town Kumanovo in northern Macedonia, local media reported.

The TV station Telma said three officers were killed in an exchange of gunfire. The station said it had confirmed the deaths with family members of the deceased.

Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski earlier said police had clashed a "well-trained terrorist group" which had entered Macedonia from an unspecified neighboring country with a plan to "perform attacks on state institutions."

He refused to give details about possible casualties, saying the operation was still ongoing.

However, the U.S Embassy in Skopje issued a statement saying it "deeply regret(s) the loss of life."

"We are following the situation and are in close contact with the authorities and political leaders. We urge citizens to remain calm and allow the facts to be established," the embassy said in a statement.

Kumanovo is an ethnically mixed town located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the capital Skopje, near the border with Kosovo and Serbia. The region was the center of hostilities between ethnic Albanian rebels and government forces during the ethnic conflict in 2001.

Ethnic Albanians, who make up a quarter of Macedonia's 2 million people, took up arms in 2001 demanding more minority rights. The conflict ended after six months with a western brokered peace deal that granted more rights to the ethnic Albanian minority.

Kotevski on Saturday said the armed group was "sheltered in the houses of supporters" in the Kumanovo neighborhood Diva Naselba, but didn't give any more details about the organization.

Police launched a search operation in that area early Saturday morning and Kotevski said "terrorists" attacked special police forces with automatic guns, snipers and bombs.

"This is a risky operation because it is an area with narrow streets and police need to search house to house very carefully", Kotevski said.

Local TV stations aired video footage showing black smoke rising from houses in the western Kumanovo suburb and many civilians fleeing the area.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov urgently ended his visit to Russia and is on his way back home. The president's office said he will call for a National Security Council meeting in relation with the latest security developments.

The EU delegation in Macedonia appealed for calm and said in a statement it is waiting "for facts to be established by the relevant authorities."

Serbia, Macedonia's northern neighbor, reacted by sending reinforcements of special police to the border region, apparently fearing a possible spillover of tensions.

The incident came a day after thousands of opposition supporters joined nationwide protests against alleged police brutality in Macedonia. The protests started after opposition leader Zoran Zaev — citing illegally recorded conversations — accused the government of trying to cover up the 2011 police killing of a 22-year-old man.

The recordings are part of a series of wiretaps Zaev has been releasing amid Macedonia's most severe political crisis in years.

Zaev on Saturday appealed for calm, but had earlier called for a large anti-government protest on May 17.

The junior coalition partner in the conservative government, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integrations, or DUI, has also expressed concern and appealed for calm. DUI urged people not to respond to provocations.

Macedonia: 3 police officers dead, 20 injured in clashes with armed group in city of Kumanovo | Fox News

Five Macedonian police officers killed in armed clashes in north

Five police officers died and more than 30 were wounded in an operation against gunmen in an ethnic Albanian area of northern Macedonia on Saturday, Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said.

Jankulovska told a news conference that some of the gunmen had been killed, without saying how many. She said police had no information about possible civilian casualties during a day-long gun battle in a suburb of the northern town of Kumanovo.

Five Macedonian police officers killed in armed clashes in north| Reuters

More police sent to border after clashes in Macedonia

RISTOVAC, KUMANOVO -- Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Saturday that the police were doing everything to preserve stability and security of citizens.

His comments came after an armed terrorist group and the Macedonian police clashed throughout the day in Kumanovo, northern Macedonia, near the border with Serbia.

Additional troops of the Gendarmerie and the Anti-Terrorist Unit have been sent to the Ground Safety Zone, said Stefanovic at the Gendarmerie base in Ristovac, adding that the presence of the border police and all other necessary logistic police forces had been stepped up.

“We have to act responsibly in order to show all those who are thinking about possible terrorist attacks on Serbia that they will be stopped quickly and efficiently,” he said.

Stefanovic, who conferred with Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said earlier on Saturday that he firmly believes that Macedonia's police will successfully deal with the terrorist threats that its citizens are facing at the moment.

The Serbian government will follow the possible surge of refugees so as to react timely and offer shelter to these people, Stefanovic said.

Earlier in the day, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic scheduled an emergency session of the Security Service Coordination Bureau for Sunday over the developments in Macedonia, Tanjug was told at the prime minister's office.

According to reports earlier on Saturday, three policemen were shot dead and a number of others were injured as the Macedonian police clashed with the group of terrorists.

"Neighboring country"

The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs has stated that a clash occurred in Kumanovo, north Macedonia, on Saturday, between police officers and "an armed terrorist group that arrived from a neighboring country with an aim to attack government institutions."

The terrorists were located nearby Kumanovo and they entered Macedonia a few days ago, Ivo Kotevski, spokesperson of the Ministry, told a news briefing.

Kotevski said that the terrorists are well prepared and heavily armed, adding that the police has come across fierce resistance, Macedonian media reported.

The police were attacked with bombs and snipers, he said.

Asked about the killed and wounded, Kotevski said that this was sensitive information, and that they are currently notifying the families.

The Macedonian media reported around 18:00 CET on Saturday that the police operation was over and that 27 terrorists had surrendered, but B92's reporter in Kumanovo said that after the shooting died down, the fighting once again flared up.

A little after 21:00 CET it was reported that the police operation was over as "the last group of terrorists that was offering resistance has been eliminated."

The Macedonian Interior Ministry has scheduled an extraordinary press conference for late on Saturday.

Tanjug is meanwhile reporting that "a great number of ethnic Albanians in a convoy of cars and 12 buses with the registry plates of Kumanovo, where armed clashes broke out on Saturday, are leaving Macedonia and entering Serbia through the Presevo border crossing."

Very few people are willing to speak to journalists, Tanjug's on-site reporter said, "but underline that they are fleeing from the clashes."

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2015&mm=05&dd=09&nav_id=94062

 

[proka89]

Last pocket of 9 Kosovo Terrorists Eliminated

MINA finds the last pocket of terrorists who were firing on police was eliminated this evening by Macedonian police.

Four terrorists were killed, one committed suicide to avoid being captured and the rest surrendered to the police.

According to MoI's Minister, Gordana Jankulovska, the police will continue to search the area until every single terrorist is eliminated.

There is growing suspicion there may still be more as the majority of them fled to residential houses at the outskirts of the city.

MINA Breaking News

 

[Galad]

Nothing surprising here.Albanian terrorists and albanian mafia are controlled by USA from decades.Kosovo is international crime center guarded by war-criminals from NATO.USA has failed to stop the piplene in Turkey,failed to do so in Greece,no chance to do it in Serbia and Hungary.So unsurprisingly they are trying to do it in Makedonia.USA simply ordered their terrorists from Kosovo to attack and try create problems.Protests at least for now leads to nowhere and have no result.On the contrary security services quickly found more than enough data showing who is behind "democratic" protests of so-called opposition.And as expected we are talking here for usual suspects-CIA dirty money,Soros,NED,Freedom House.

 

[Tsilihin]

I was been in right when i written about balkan fighters who are in Syrian,Libyan.... battlefield.
When they will come in to the motherland ,problems will start for everyone.
They will serve like mercenaries to those who will pay for some tasks.
They are not just servants of the West,they serve to all who will pay for subversion

 

[proka89]

Last count is 8 dead and 37 wounded policemen in Kumanovo. 14 members of the terrorist group are killed, and more than 30 of them are arrested. Some of the terrorist tried to cross into Serbia, but border between Serbia and Macedonia is closed, and Serbia reinforced army and police units on Macedonian border and in Ground security zone. Additional troops of Gendermery and counter terrorist unit are moved in that area.

 

[proka89]