Ambush near Tanuševci

Ambush near Tanuševci
Part of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
DateMarch 4, 2001
Location
Result NLA victory
Belligerents
National Liberation Army  Macedonia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Army of the Republic of Macedonia Kirčo Dimitrov [1]
Units involved
Unknown Macedonian army
Strength
Unknown Army of the Republic of Macedonia Unknown[2]
Casualties and losses
None Army of the Republic of Macedonia 3 killed
Army of the Republic of Macedonia 1 vehicle destroyed

On March 4, 2001, Albanian rebels of the NLA, performed an ambush near the village of Tanuševci during the Insurgency in Macedonia.[3][4][5][6]

Background

On February 17, 2001, fighting broke out in the village. By March 1, 100 Albanian rebels had occupied Tanuševci.[7][8]

Ambush

Albanian insurgents planted landmines on a road leading to Tanuševci. At 7:30 AM, an ARM vehicle hit the landmines, killing two soldiers. At 8 AM, the rebels opened fire on military forces, killing one soldier.[2]

Aftermath

The European Union condemned the attack.[6] Due to the ambush, Macedonia closed its border with Kosovo.[7][9] Macedonian authorities sent around 3,000 to 4,000 men to tackle the rebels, but within days the rebellion spread around nearby villages. Around 500 residents of Tanuševci, mainly women and children, fled into Kosovo.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Во Виница одбележана 19-годишнината од загинувањето на армискиот капетан Кирчо Димитриов" (in Macedonian). A1on.mk. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Škariḱ, Svetomir (2002). Law, Force and Peace: Macedonia and Kosovo. Tri D. p. 626. ISBN 978-9989-677-03-8.
  3. ^ Watch (Organization), Human Rights (2001). Landmine Monitor Report 2001: Toward a Mine-free World. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-1-56432-262-3.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Nations, United (1947). Yearbook of the United Nations. Department of Public Information, United Nations. p. 368. ISBN 978-92-1-100897-5.
  6. ^ a b Bulletin of the European Union. European Commission, Secretariat-General. 2001. p. 86.
  7. ^ a b Bideleux, Robert; Jeffries, Ian (2007-01-24). The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. Routledge. p. 426. ISBN 978-1-134-58328-7.
  8. ^ Petersen, Roger D. (2011-09-30). Western Intervention in the Balkans: The Strategic Use of Emotion in Conflict. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-139-50330-3.
  9. ^ Watch (Organization), Human Rights (2001). Landmine Monitor Report 2001: Toward a Mine-free World. Human Rights Watch. p. 738. ISBN 978-1-56432-262-3.
  10. ^ Roudometof, Victor (2002). Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-275-97648-4.