Macedonian police kills 6 Albanian outlaws near Kosovo
Macedonian special police forces on Wednesday stormed the stronghold of Albanian outlaws in the western part of the country, bringing a swift end to a month-long threat of potentially dangerous groups to the country’s stability.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, November 08, 2007
Six gunmen were killed and a dozen captured in an anti-insurgency action in the remote mountainous village of Brodec near regional hub of Tetovo in Albanian-dominated western Macedonia, police said.
The "Operation Mountain Storm" lasted only several hours, as Macedonian special police units, supported by helicopter gun-ships and armored vehicles, broke the resistance of an estimated 30-member group of outlaws, which had been hiding in the region for at least a month. No casualties have been reported among the ranks of Macedonian security forces. At least one house and a local mosque in the village of Brodec were heavily damaged during the shooting, according to witnesses.
The group of Albanian gunmen was led by fugitive Lirim Jakupi, known by his nom-de-guerre "Nazi", who staged a spectacular escape from maximum security prison in neighboring Kosovo two months ago, and has been since engaged in dodgy exchange of harsh words with both Macedonian government and Serbs in Kosovo.
His top lieutenant, Ramadan Shiti is believed to be among six killed during the police action. U.S. intelligence officials described Shiti as one of the main players in the potentially dangerous network of radical islamists in Kosovo and Macedonia.
Macedonian police, whose action included three villages Brodes, Vesala and Vejce also seized various weaponry, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, assault rifles, explosives and ammunition. The remaining members of this group are believed to have fled towards Kosovo. However, German peacekeepers, who control the rugged terrain on the boundary between Macedonia and internationally-administrated Serbian province of Kosovo did not report any movement of troops in their area of responsibility.
The group of outlaws, which has been described as a splinter group of the shadowy Albanian National Army (AKSh), wore camouflage uniforms bearing insignia of the UCK (National Liberation Army) which has been disbanded following the peace deal which halted 2001 conflict in Macedonia.
However, the activities of Albanian outlaws have not been restricted only to those three villages, as local residents reported that "groups of armed men with assault rifles" were seen patrolling the area around former major Albanian rebel stronghold of Sipkovica, just several miles away from yesterday's battlefield.
During the past month, one police officer was killed and two other were injured in the north-western village of Tanusevci, but the Skopje government blamed the incident on local smugglers. Last week, another fugitive from Kosovo's Dubrava prison was found dead near Odri, a village near Tetovo.
