Battle of Vaksince | |||||||||
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Part of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia | |||||||||
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12,000 ethnic Albanian civilians displaced [18] [3] 9,500 fled to Kosovo 2,500 fled to Serbia |
The Battle of Vaksince was a military engagement between the Macedonian security forces and Albanian insurgents belonging to the NLA, which was at the time launching a campaign of guerrilla attacks against facilities of the Macedonian Government, the Macedonian Police force, and the Macedonian Armed Forces. [19] [20]
On 3 May, the NLA launched an attack on Macedonian security forces in Vaksince, near Kumanovo, killing two Macedonian soldiers and kidnapping a third. [21] [1] [22] The NLA then went on to occupy the village and declared the area in and around Vaksince as a "liberated zone". [23] [1]
On the same day, Macedonian forces decided to launch a counter-offensive to reclaim the village seized by the NLA. [1] [24] [25] Macedonian forces began the offensive with helicopter gunships and artillery that fired on and around the village of Vaksince. [26]
Macedonian Army officials claimed to have managed to destroy fourteen NLA entrenched positions, eight machine-gun bunkers, seven sniper nests, six control points, three arms storage facilities, and one mortar position during the offensive. [27] During the offensive 3 Macedonian soldiers were wounded. The NLA also claimed to have shot down one MI-24 attack helicopter. [14]
Army spokesman Gjorgji Trendafilov told the Associated Press that the NLA was holding thousands of villagers as human shields. [23] This was denied by the NLA, who also accused government forces of indiscriminate attacks against Albanian civilians. [28] [29]
On 24 May 2001, Macedonian security forces launched another general offensive against the NLA in Kumanovo. [30] Fighting continued into the next day and turned into urban warfare. The police and army infantry had to fight for every house in the large villages of Vaksince and Lojane, two NLA strongholds, as the NLA resisted fiercely. A special police unit called the "Tigers", who specialised in urban counter-guerrilla fighting, was also deployed. [31] On 26 May, NLA rebels withdrew to the hills around Vaksince. [32] With the withdrawal of the NLA, the Macedonian security forces moved in and recaptured Vaksince. [33] During the clashes, Fadil Nimani, main commander of the NLA in Vaksince, fell in battle, while one Macedonian police officer was wounded. [15]
While the Macedonian Army captured Vaksince on 26 May, the NLA regained territory in Vaksince within three days. [4] On 6 June, the NLA retook Vaksince, [34] [35] Gjorgji Trendafilov denied that the army had been forced out and claimed that there were no "terrorists" in Vaksince and that the army was still in its positions. [34] Nevertheless, the Macedonian army shelled Vaksince on 6 June, setting a house on fire, which according to CNN would have been unlikely if they still had occupied the area. [34] The claims of Gjorgji Trendafilov as well as other Macedonians, that claimed, that they had Vaksince under their control, were proven to be false by independent observers as well as the NLA itself. [36] The Vaksince mosque's minaret was demolished from shelling. [37] [38]
On 7 June, Hysamedin Halili (then Mayor of the Lipkovo Municipality) confirmed that the NLA recaptured Vaksince. [39]
Human Rights Watch concluded that Macedonian forces were arresting and beating Albanian civilians during and after their offensive from 24 to 26 May 2001. [44]
According to the NLA, Macedonian forces attempted to raid Vaksince in October, but were stopped by them. [45]
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Government forces have been able to claim few successes in the conflict. When they drove the NLA out of the village of Vaksince two weeks ago, it took less than three days for the rebels to regain a foothold.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Die militärische Lage im Land war unklar. Nach einigen Meldungen sind die albanischen Freischärler erneut in die Dörfer Vaksince und Matejce vorgedrungen, aus denen die Sicherheitskräfte sie zuvor vertrieben hatten, und bereiteten zudem einen Angriff auf Aracinovo vor, eine grosse Ortschaft nahe der Autobahn von Skopje zum Flughafen. Die politische Lage war ebenso unklar.
Alle Siegesmeldungen der makedonischen Seite, sie hätten Vaksince und Slupcane in ihrer Hand, sind nach Angaben von Beobachtern und der UÇK falsch.[All reports of victory from the Macedonian side, claiming that they have Vaksince and Slupcane under their control, are false according to observers and the UÇK.]