Insurgency in The Republic of Macedonia - Fighting in Kumanovo

Fighting in Kumanovo

In the beginning of May 2001, a large group of NLA rebels infiltrated Macedonia from Kosovo and set up bases in several villages to the north of Kumanovo. This armed group of the NLA insurgents was known as the “113 Brigade of the NLA” and was led by the Kosovo Albanian Fadil Nimani.

On 3 May, the NLA launched another ambush on Macedonian security forces in Vaksince, near Kumanovo and killed two Macedonian soldiers and kidnapped a third. The three soldiers were on a border patrol which was returning from routine duty when it was ambushed near the village.

State radio said that the rebels had claimed the area around Vakcince as their "liberated zone".

On the same day, the Macedonian security council decided to engage in a new offensive against the NLA, in order to drive them out of their strongholds in the villages north of Kumanovo.

The people in the villages held by the NLA were given until 15:00 to evacuate before Macedonian security forces could launch their offensive. Army spokesman Gjordji Trendafilov told the Associated Press that the NLA were holding thousands of villagers as human shields. The offensive started with the shelling of selected targets in Vaksince by military helicopters and field artillery.

In the next several days, Macedonian security forces shelled NLA positions in the villages of Slupcane, Orizari and Otlja. Afterwards, Macedonian police and infantry units advanced. On 7 May 2001, Macedonian Army officials announced that in the previous three days the Macedonian security forces had managed to destroy 14 NLA entrenched positions, 8 machine-gun bunkers, 7 sniper nests, 6 control points, 3 arms storage facilities, and one mortar position. Army officials also stressed that during the operations only selected targets were being hit, in order to evade civilian casualties and unnecessary material damage.

The most intensive clashes occurred during the first week of the offensive in Kumanovo on 8 May 2001 at the entrance to the village of Slupcane. Army infantry launched an onslaught, causing insurgents to leave their positions and retreat towards Vaksince. Army helicopters then intercepted them with machine-gun fire and inflicted heavy casualties. That same day, a position of 20 NLA insurgents was destroyed by the Macedonian Army in the “Mining colony” that was located close to Lojane.

On 25 May 2001, Macedonian security forces launched the long awaited general offensive against the NLA in Kumanovo.

The fighting that continued the next day turned into urban warfare, where the police and army infantry had to fight for every house in the large villages of Vaksince and Lojane. The NLA resisted fiercely. A special police unit called the “Tigers” who specialised in urban counter-guerrilla fighting were also deployed

After two weeks of heavy fighting, on 26 May 2001 the Macedonian security forces recaptured Vaksince and Lojane, two major Kumanovo villages which were NLA strongholds.

During the battle for Vaksince, Macedonian forces killed Fadil Nimani (alias “Komandant Tigri”) who was the chief commander of the NLA in Kumanovo.

Macedonian troops continued their offensive towards the NLA strongholds of Slupcane and Matejce, both about 30 kilometres northeast of the capital Skopje.

After several clashes in which the NLA insurgents were defeated, on 29 May 2001 Macedonian police and army units entered the village of Matejce. While searching the houses, the police found weapons and military equipment. In the village the police discovered a system of underground tunnels which provide connection between several houses. After the Macedonian security forces captured Matejce, the NLA initiated a coordinated attack on the village from the directions of Otlja, Orizare and Slupcane. The insurgents were firing with machine-guns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenades“.

During the next two days, Macedonian security forces carried out an offensive towards Slupcane, which was shelled on a daily basis. In the meantime, there was news that there was renewed fighting in the villages north of Tetovo, more than a month after the Macedonian security forces crushed the rebels in an offensive in March 2001.

On 8 June 2001, the Macedonian Army and the police launched a new major onslaught against the NLA in their strongholds in the remaining villages that were occupied in the beginning of May 2001. The main goal of the operation was to secure the Lipkovo dam, which was held by the insurgents. The NLA closed the valves that are used for control of the outflow of water from the dam of the Lipkovo Lake, thus stopped the supply of water for Kumanovo causing a humanitarian crisis for the civilian population in the city. The Army captured the Lipkovo lake and pushed the NLA back into the village.

Unlike Vaksince, Matejce and other villages on the battleground, Lipkovo still had 10,000 people that were not evacuated by the government or the Red Cross. In order to prevent civilian casualties, government representatives ordered the civilians in Lipkovo to evacuate the village. However, the call was not answered since the NLA insurgents in the village did not allow the International Red Cross to evacuate the civilians. The Mayor of Lipkovo, Husamedin Halili, issued a call opposite to the government’s – he said to the civilians that they would be safer in the basements of their houses than to come out of the village where they would find themselves in the cross-fire between the security forces and the NLA.

In order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophy in Lipkovo, because of the fact that the civilians did not flee the conflict zone, as well as in order to resume water supplies to Kumanovo, a temporary ceasefire was brokered by the OSCE and President Trajkovski ordered a halt to the offensive on 12 June. During the ceasefire, the supplies of drinking water for Kumanovo would be turned on again, and the civilians in Lipkovo would receive food, water and medicine by the OSCE.

The NLA abused the ceasefire that was announced by the Macedonian security forces and set fire to an historic orthodox church in Matejce, which was considered one of the most important cultural monuments in Kumanovo, as well as to houses of Macedonian civilians. Before the Macedonian police entered the village in June 2001, the church was used as a headquarters for the NLA.

The continuation of the Macedonian offensive in Kumanovo was temporarily stopped and put on standstill, because a new front was opened by the NLA which managed to pull the attention away from Kumanovo. On 13 June 2001, insurgents who had infiltrated previously, declared a “free territory” in Aračinovo, a village outside Skopje.

During the one month long battles in the Kumanovo region, the Macedonian security forces managed to recapture several villages that were NLA strongholds and clear them from the insurgents' presence. According to Macedonian official claims, security forces killed at least 30 NLA insurgents one of which was confirmed as “Komandant Tigri” killed during the battle for Vaksince, while the NLA claims they lost 16.