The Macedonian police initiated an operation in late April 2010 to seize guarded weapon caches and bunkers near the village of Blace on the border with Kosovo. Members of the Macedonian special police unit "Tigers" conducted the raid.
| Blace bunker raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Macedonian police | Armed group | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Gordana Jankuloska | Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Special police unit "Tigers" | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | Unknown | ||||||
| 3 suspects arrested by the Kosovo Police | |||||||
Background
editIn 2001, the region around Blace was engulfed in the armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonian security forces. The six-month conflict ended the same year with the Ohrid Framework Agreement that granted greater rights to ethnic Albanians in the country. According to Balkan Insight, the area around Blace was considered a hiding place for the armed insurgents.[1] The ethnic Albanian insurgent group National Liberation Army (NLA) disbanded after the conflict and its leaders created the ethnic Albanian political party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).[2]
Raid
editThe Macedonian special police unit "Tigers" performed a raid on 29 April 2010 near the village of Blace on the border with Kosovo. The Macedonian security forces briefly clashed with an armed group guarding bunkers and weapon caches on the Macedonia-Kosovo border. The group fled to Kosovo after a short fire exchange. Per A1 TV, one armed man was wounded by the police. The Macedonian police continued to search the area and discovered a large quantity of weapons including 20 missiles, three mortars, three field guns, TNT explosives, hand grenades and anti-tank mines, also uncovered were emblems of uniforms of the former NLA. According to the Macedonian interior minister Gordana Jankuloska, the group was planning large military operations to destabilize Macedonia and the wider Balkan region.[1][2][3][4]
Aftermath
editAn alleged NLA communiqué was sent to the Macedonian media, stating that it would continue operating in the country.[2] DUI condemned the violence and said it had nothing to do with the weapon stash, nor with the alleged NLA communiqué. Kosovo Police arrested three people it suspected of being involved in the shootout with the police.[3] NATO expressed concern and the large quantity of weapons found in the caches. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples on his visit to Kosovo considered the incident worrying and one that could potentially destabilize a country like Macedonia.[2] Two weeks after the bunker raid, the Macedonian police engaged in a shootout with an armed group which was smuggling weapons near the Kosovo border. It is unclear if the two incidents were related.[5] According to Alfa TV, the perpetrators of the 2015 Kumanovo clashes and attack at Gošince were men who were previously involved with the incidents with the weapon caches.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (30 April 2010). "Macedonia Uncovers Additional Weapons Stash". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
Unofficially local media reported that several armed and uniformed men who were guarding the weapons on Thursday opened fire on the special police forces after which they fled to Kosovo. Local A1 TV reported at least one armed man was wounded by police. The arsenal of arms found yesterday reportedly contained many weapons, including machine guns, manual missile launchers, anti-tank mines, explosives, and detonators. Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said the police unit "Tigers" launched the operation on early Thursday following intelligence reports on stored weapons several kilometers northeast of Blace village near the Blace border crossing.
- ^ a b c d Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (6 May 2010). "NATO: Weapons Cache in Macedonia "Worrying"". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
"The quantity of seized ammunitions was very large and this is very worrying for us," Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, said during his visit to Kosovo, AFP reported. "Such actions could destabilise a country like Macedonia, so we have to be concerned," he told media. Macedonian police last Thursday siezed a weapons stash hidden in the mountainous terrain near the village of Blace in the very sensitive border area with Kosovo. The stash included 20 missiles, three mortars, three field guns, 81 kg of plastic explosives, and hundreds of grenades and mines.
- ^ a b "Пронајден нов бункер со оружје кај Блаце" [A new weapons bunker was found at Blace]. Deutsche Welle (in Macedonian). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
The Macedonian police today found another bunker with weapons and ammunition near Blace. The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the police continue to "comb" the area. According to the Minister of the Interior, Gordana Jankulovska, the seized weapons belonged to an extremist group that planned operations not only in Macedonia, but also in the wider region. Jankulovska, however, assessed that there is no need for citizens to worry about their safety.
- ^ "Macedonian IM: Weapons threat to region". B92. 30 April 2010.
- ^ Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (12 May 2010). "Macedonian Police Kill Four Gunmen in Shootout". Balkan Insight (BIRN). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
"At this phase I would not link the two incidents," Macedonian Minister of Police Gordana Jankulovska told media today, referring to the recent discovery of weapons caches in the same area of Macedonia. "The police are working on the case and are still on the ground," she said, adding that violence will not be tolerated and that the police have the situation under control. So far it is not clear whether this incident is linked with that in late April when the police in the same border region with Kosovo found a large weapons stash and clashed with the uniformed gunmen who were guarding it.
- ^ "Кумановските терористи оставиле печат уште во 2010 во бункер кај Блаце". Alfa MK (in Macedonian). Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
Дел од екстремистите кои дејствуваа во Куманово и Гошинце во април и мај годинава, оставиле траги зад себе уште пред 5 години во упориште на Скопска Црна Гора, откриле вештаците на МВР, велат извори од истрагата за Алфа. Some of the extremists who operated in Kumanovo and Goshince in April and May of this year, left traces behind 5 years ago in a stronghold of Skopje Montenegro, the experts of the Ministry of the Interior discovered, sources from the Alfa investigation say.