The National Liberation Army, also known as the Macedonian UÇK, was an ethnic Albanian militant militia that operated in the Republic of Macedonia in 2001 and was closely associated with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Following the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, it was disarmed through the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which gave greater rights and autonomy to the state's Macedonian Albanians.
The 2001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) insurgent group, formed from veterans of the Kosovo War and Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, attacked Macedonian security forces at the end of January 2001, and ended with the Ohrid Agreement, signed on 13 August of that same year. There were also claims that the NLA ultimately wished to see Albanian-majority areas secede from the country, though high-ranking members of the group have denied this. The conflict lasted throughout most of the year, although overall casualties remained limited to several dozen individuals on either side, according to sources from both sides of the conflict. With it, the Yugoslav Wars had reached the Republic of Macedonia which had achieved peaceful independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
The Albanian National Army is an Albanian paramilitary organization which operates in North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. The group opposes the Ohrid Framework Agreement which ended the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia between members of the National Liberation Army and Macedonian security forces.
Skopska Crna Gora or Karadak Mountains, often called simply Crna Gora, is a mountain range and ethnographic region in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. The highest peak is Ramno 1,651 m (5,417 ft) in Macedonia. The largest town on the mountain is Kučevište in North Macedonia.
Law enforcement in North Macedonia is the responsibility of the Police of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The Smilkovci Lake killings also called the Smilkovci Lake massacre, was the killing of five ethnic Macedonian civilians that took place on 12 April 2012. They were shot and killed at a man-made lake near the village of Smilkovci, outside the Macedonian capital Skopje. According to the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the attack was carried out with the intent to "incite fear and insecurity" and the ministry called it a "deliberate terrorist act aimed at destabilizing the country". The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights criticised the ministry for prematurely judging the suspects as guilty.
The Lions was a special police unit for fast interventions formed by the Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boškoski in 2001. It was dissolved in 2003.
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.
Operation Mountain Storm was carried out on 7 November 2007 by special police forces of the Republic of Macedonia against an armed ethnic Albanian group in the Šar Mountains of Brodec above Tetovo region.
The Kondovo Crisis took place in the village of Kondovo, Republic of Macedonia, when an armed group of ethnic Albanians sealed off the village of Kondovo, Republic of Macedonia, a suburb of the capital Skopje.
The 2015 Kumanovo clashes were series of shootouts which erupted during a raid between the Macedonian police and an armed group identifying itself as the National Liberation Army (NLA). They began on 9 May 2015 in the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo. During the shootings, 8 Macedonian policemen and 10-14 of the militants were killed, while 37 officers were wounded and hospitalized. The shooting ended on 10 May 2015, in an operation by the Macedonian police, in which 30 militants were arrested and charged with terrorism-related charges by the Macedonian authorities.
The Aračinovo crisis was a series of events triggered by the occupation of the village of Aračinovo, in the outskirts of the Macedonian capital Skopje, by the insurgent National Liberation Army (NLA) in June 2001 and the consequent attempts by the Macedonian army (ARM) to retake the settlement. The Macedonian attack resulted in a standoff with NATO, whose troops evacuated the besieged rebels after a ceasefire accord. The crisis is considered to be the turning point in the Macedonian war of 2001, and one of its most controversial incidents.
The battle of Raduša was part of the wider inter-ethnic conflict known as the Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia between the Albanian NLA and Macedonian security forces concentrated near the border with Kosovo. The brunt of the fighting happened near the village of Raduša and Bojane villages that guard the roads to the Rašče water supply which supplies water to the capital city of Skopje.
During the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, a raid was conducted by the Macedonian police against ethnic Albanian rebels in a suburb of Skopje on 7 August. The police killed the rebel group and captured their weapon supplies.
The Macedonian police forces had a shootout with an armed group near the village of Raduša, Macedonia, close to the Kosovo border, which was smuggling weapons. The Macedonian police recovered a large quantity of weapons and NLA uniforms in their vehicle.
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.
The Battle of Matejče was a military confrontation between the National Liberation Army (NLA) and the Macedonian Army in the village of Matejče during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. The NLA succeeded in capturing the village on 5 June 2001 and the Macedonian Army was forced to withdraw from Matejče. The Macedonian Army continued to shell Matejče until 11 June 2001.
The Battle of Slupčane was a military confrontation between the Macedonian security forces and Albanian insurgents belonging to the National Liberation Army (NLA), which at the time, was launching a campaign of guerrilla attacks against facilities of the Macedonian Government, the Macedonian Police force, and the Macedonian Armed Forces. The NLA was victorious, in part due to the withdrawal of Macedonian forces and suspension of all military operations in Kumanovo–Lipkovo region so that international officials could inspect the water supply.
Harun Aliu, known as Commander Kushtrimi, was an Albanian commander and co-founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the Kosovo War and the National Liberation Army (NLA) during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, who later became a politician in Macedonia. He was killed in a shootout near Raduša with the Macedonian police on 12 May 2010.
