Timeline of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia

Combatants

NLA—National Liberation Army
ANA—Albanian National Army
ARM—Macedonian Army
MVR—Macedonian police
NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Organizations

ICTY—International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
OSCE—Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
HRW—Human Rights Watch

Background

5 April 1992; Declaration of the Republic of Ilirida.
6 November 1992; Bit Pazar Shooting, three Albanian and one Macedonian civilians killed.
15 February 1995: Opening of an illegal Albanian university in Mala Rečica, 1 Albanian civilian was killed in clashes with the police.
1996; 1996 Albanian riots in Macedonia
1997; 1997 Albanian riots in Macedonia
9 July 1997; Gostivar and Tetovo Unrest, 4 killed, 70 wounded and 312 arrested.
7 April 1999; Blace incident, One Macedonian soldier killed by a KLA sniper on the border.^[1]
11 January 2000; Aračinovo ambush, Three Macedonian policemen killed by Albanian rebels.^[2]

Insurgency

22 January 2001; Tearce attack, NLA victory.^[3]
13 February 2001; A Macedonian traffic policeman in Slupčane was run over and killed by the NLA^[4]
26 February 2001 – 1 March 2001; Battle of Tanuševci, NLA victory.^[5]
4 March 2001; Tanuševci ambush, NLA victory.^[6]
8 March 2001; Tanuševci operation, NATO-ARM victory.^[7]
10 March 2001; Brest attack, NLA victory.^[8]
16 March–13 August 2001; Battle of Tetovo, NLA victory.
25–27 March 2001; Operation MH, ARM victory.^[9]
28–29 March 2001; Operation MH-1, ARM victory.^[10]
14 April 2001; An anti-tank mine killed one and wounded three British soldiers in their armored personnel carrier in the village of Krivenik near Kosovo's border with Macedonia ^[11]
28 April 2001; Vejce ambush, NLA victory.^[12]
3 May–6 June 2001; Battle of Vaksince, NLA victory.^[13]
3 May–11 June 2001; Battle of Slupčane, NLA victory.^[14]
3 May–11 June 2001; Battle of Orizare, NLA victory.
8 May–11 June 2001; Lipkovo crisis, NLA victory
8 May 2001; Operation MH-2, Operation halted.
22 May 2001; Lisec ambush, NLA failure.^[15]
1 June 2001; Lisec clashes^[16]
24–26 May 2001; Battle of Lojane, ARM-MVR victory.^[17]^[18]
24 May–6 June 2001; Battle of Matejče, NLA victory.^[19]^[20]
5 June 2001; Gajre ambush, NLA victory.
12–25 June 2001; Aračinovo crisis, Ceasefire.^[21]
20 June–13 August 2001; Battle of Raduša, Ceasefire.
27 June–5 July 2001; Battle of Nikuštak, Ceasefire.^[22]
7 August 2001; 2001 Skopje police raid, MVR victory.
8 August 2001; Karpalak ambush, NLA and ANA victory.^[23]
8–9 August; 2001 anti-Albanian protests
10 August 2001; Ljuboten ambush, 8 Macedonian soldiers killed by NLA.^[24]
12 August 2001; Ljuboten massacre, 10 Albanian civilians killed by the Macedonian police led by Johan Tarčulovski.
13 August 2001; Ohrid Agreement.

Aftermath

22 August 2001; Operation Essential Harvest, NATO success, NLA disarmed by NATO forces
22 September 2001 – 15 December 2002; Operation Amber Fox
11 November 2001; Treboš ambush
25 March 2002; Mala Rečica clash, inconclusive^[25]
1 July – December 2004 - 2 February – August 2005; Kondovo Crisis conflicts resolved diplomatically
20 July 2005; Vratnica police station attack, part of the Vratnica police station was damaged by shells^[26]^[27]
7 November 2007; Operation Mountain Storm Macedonian government victory^[28]
5 March 2010; Kosovo-Macedonian border shootout (March 2010) Macedonian police victory^[29]
29 April 2010; Kosovo-Macedonian border shootout (April 2010) ANA victory^[30]^[31]
29–30 April 2010; Blace bunker raid Macedonian police victory
11th, May 2010; Raduša shootout Macedonian police victory
28 October 2014; 2014 Macedonian government building attack Part of the government facade was damaged^[32]^[33]^[34]
21 April 2015; Gošince attack Hostages released
9–10 May 2015; 2015 Kumanovo clashes Macedonian government victory

References

^ Биљана, Николоска (2017-04-07). "Откриено спомен обележје на херојот од Ливоишта Благојче Крстаноски". Портал ТВМ (in Macedonian). Retrieved 2023-07-09.
^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 2001: Macedonia:Human Rights Developments". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
^ "That's the police station, that was". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ "VEST - Macedonian daily newspaper". 2014-08-08. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
^ Jeffries, Ian (2002-05-16). The Former Yugoslavia at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to the Economies in Transition. Routledge. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-134-46050-2. Macedonia yesterday [1 March] ratified a long-awaited border treaty with Serbia, in spite of tensions over the occupation of a mountain village by ethnic Albanian extremists from Kosovo. The takeover at Tanusevci, close to the border with Serbia, poses the most serious threat to Macedonia's stability since the Kosovo conflict …
^ Škariḱ, Svetomir (2002). Law, Force and Peace: Macedonia and Kosovo. Tri D. p. 626. ISBN 978-9989-677-03-8.
^ Gall, Carlotta (2001-03-08). "NATO Troops Help Macedonians Drive Away Ethnic Albanian Rebels". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ Gall, Carlotta (2001-03-10). "Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ Boudreaux, Richard (2001-03-27). "Both Sides in Macedonia Hold Out Hope for Peaceful End". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ Archives, L. A. Times (2001-03-29). "Macedonia Hits Rebels Near Kosovo Border". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ "14, April-2001". tanusevci.tripod.com. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
^ "8 soldiers slain in ambush near Albanian region". Chicago Tribune. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ "CNN.com - NATO slams Macedonia rebel attacks - June 7, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ Phillips, John (2004-01-01). Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans. Yale University Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-300-10268-0. In late May, government forces registered their first success with the recapture of Vaksince, which was visited by Ljube Boskovski, the Interior Minister. Government forces were supposed to resume their attack on the villages of Slupcane, Lipkovo and Matejce, but the offensive stalled when a special forces unit mutinied and had to be withdrawn from the front line.
^ "CNN.com - Fighting reported in Macedonia - May 23, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ "Macedonia rebels die in clashes". CNN. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^ "Macedonia seizes rebel villages". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
^ Archives, L. A. Times (2001-05-26). "Rebels Forced From Sites, Macedonia Says". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
^ "MACEDONIA:THE CONFLICT AND THE MEDIA" (PDF). Macedonian Institute for Media. Fighting around Matejce lasted from May 28 until June 5. The first sign that the battle against the UCK was not going well came when the Macedonian forces were finally forced to retreat.
^ Krzak, Andrzej (2014-07-26). "Asymmetry of the Albanian‑Macedonian Military Conflict in 2001: Military characteristics of the fight in the regions of Tetovo , Kumanovo , Aračinovo and Vaksince". Politeja. 11 (4 (30)): 295–316. doi:10.12797/Politeja.11.2014.30.23. ISSN 2391-6737. The fighting of Albanians ended up with a success in the region of Kumanovo. The Albanian rebels, concerning the inaction of the government forces, took control of the area from the Matejche (Matejce) village to the Lipkovo Lake. As a result, their posi-tions allowed to observe the region of the capital of Macedonia – Skopje.
^ "Ceasefire agreed in Macedonia". 2001-06-24. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ "Analysis: Macedonian truce prospects". 2001-07-05. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ "Ten Macedonian troops die in ambush | World news | The Guardian". TheGuardian.com. 2018-06-16. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ "CNN.com - Soldiers killed in Macedonia blast - August 10, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ "CNN.com - New gun battle in Macedonia - April 4, 2002". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ "Kosovo News and Views: Vratnica attack said done by Krasniqi group, Bit Pazar by a Saudi". Kosovonewsandviews.blogspot.com. 2005-07-29. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
^ "Eight Albanians dead in clash with Macedonian police". www.b92.net. 7 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
^ "4 killed in shoot-out on Macedonia-Kosovo border". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233057/http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2002/nr1/Focus1-2002Brunnbauer.pdf
^ "ONA odgovorna za pucnjavu u Makedoniji".
^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic (7 November 2014). "'Liberation Army' Claims it Shelled Macedonian Govt". balkaninsight.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
^ "МВР: Два проектила забиени во зградата на владата". Радио Слободна Европа (in Macedonian). 29 October 2014. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
^ "Куршуми во владата и ширење страв!". Радио Слободна Европа (in Macedonian). 29 October 2014. Retrieved 2022-12-04.