Tearce attack | |||||||
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Part of 2001 insurgency in Macedonia | |||||||
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The Tearce attack was an attack carried out by the National Liberation Army on a Macedonian police station in Tearce, North Macedonia. This attack marked the beginning of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. [3] As a result of the attack, one police officer was killed and three others were injured and the NLA captured Tearce. [4]
The attack took place on 22 January 2001, on a Monday at 2:00 AM in the village of Tearce, which is inhabited largely by ethnic Albanians. [5] During the attack, three or four NLA militants armed with a Chinese rocket launcher and two Kalashnikovs attacked a Macedonian police station. The militants killed the police officer Momir Stojanovski in the attack, who was killed by the RPG grenade, while three other policemen were seriously injured. [6] [7] [8] The injuries were believed to have been sustained from the two grenades fired at the station. [9]
The NLA claimed responsibility for the attack. After the attack in Tearce, the village was held by the NLA. [10] However, Macedonian police reported that the militants operated independently. Police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski reported, "These extreme radical individuals are not part of an organised group." [8]
The attack in Tearce resulted in the beginning of the insurgency. [4] [11] It was designated as a terrorist attack by the Macedonian Ministry of Interior. [12]