Ambush near Treboš

Ambush near Treboš
Date 11 November 2001 Location Near Treboš, Macedonia Result See aftermath
Belligerents
Albanian rebels	Macedonia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Ljube Boškoski
Units involved
Unknown	Macedonian police Lions
Strength
Unknown	100+ members of the security forces
Casualties and losses
	3 killed 3 wounded[1]
100 Macedonian civilians abducted and later released[2][3] 7 Albanians arrested[3][4]

Albanian rebels ambushed a convoy of the special police unit Lions near the village of Treboš on 11 November 2001. A group known as the Albanian National Army (ANA) claimed responsibility.[5] The ambush occurred after the war of 2001 officially ended with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement when members of the special Macedonian police forces were attacked on the road to Treboš where they were supposed to secure a mass grave,[6] suspected of containing the bodies of 13 Macedonian civilians kidnapped by the NLA.[7][8]

Ambush

In November, there were media allegations that 13 Macedonian men who were previously reported as abducted by rebels had been executed and buried in one or more mass graves near the village of Treboš.[9] On 11 November, the Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boškoski ordered the special police unit Lions to secure an alleged mass grave of Macedonian civilians in the area of Tetovo.[10] There they arrested seven Albanians whom they accused of belonging to the NLA.[11] In reaction, ethnic Albanian villagers retrieved automatic weapons which were withheld and set up checkpoints, vowing to resist Boškoski's forces. In an e-mail to a Western news agency, ANA declared: "We declare all territories with majority Albanian populations... a forbidden zone for the forces of repressive Macedonian machinery. If they enter, they will be deemed legitimate targets and get hit without warning."[10] 100 Macedonian civilians were abducted by Albanian rebels in retaliation.[2][3] A convoy of the Lions was ambushed by Albanian rebels near Treboš, which resulted in the deaths of three policemen and the wounding of another three.[11]

Aftermath

ANA claimed responsibility for the attack. It also claimed that Xhemail Rexhepi (Shqiponja 5 [Eagle 5]) was involved in the clashes.[12] A former NLA commander denied involvement of the disbanded organization with the abductions.[13] International mediators and NATO troops convinced the Albanians to free the hostages.[14] Police units were withdrawn from Treboš.[15] President Boris Trajkovski's cabinet distanced itself from the arrest of the seven Albanians, conceding it had violated the amnesty for the rebels.[11] Pavle Trajanov, leader of the party Democratic Alliance, blamed Boškoski for the ambush.[11] Western envoys also blamed him for provoking the violence before the vote in parliament to ratify the Ohrid Framework Agreement.[15] On 22 November, the human remains thought to be of six Macedonian civilians were found in the area.[16][9]

References

1. "Загинаа тројца "лавови"". Time.mk. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
2. "Macedonia erupts in new violence". CNN.com. CNN. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Three policemen have been killed and about 100 Macedonians abducted or held hostage in a sudden escalation of violence in the volatile Balkan country.
3. "Rebels kill three policemen in Macedonia". The Guardian. Associated Press. 13 November 2001. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. Three policemen have been killed and about 100 people abducted or held hostage in a sudden escalation of violence in Macedonia. The interior minister, Ljube Boskovski, said that all captives were reported released by midday yesterday.
4. "Kidnappings threaten Macedonia peace". BBC News. 12 November 2001.
5. "Rebels kill three policemen in Macedonia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2022. In a statement yesterday, a dissident ethnic Albanian group calling itself the Albanian National Army claimed responsibility for the killings, saying: "The Skopje government is restarting its terror and sees war as the only response to Albanian demands."
6. "Amnesty International February 2003 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia "Where are they now"? Their families need to know! Alleged "disappearances"1 and abductions in 2001" (PDF). Amnesty International.
7. "Загинаа тројца „лавови"". time.mk (A1). Retrieved 2022-03-06.
8. "Тројца загинаа без потреба". Vest. 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
9. "Macedonia erupts in new violence". CNN.com. CNN. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. Bloodshed erupted on Sunday after special police units crossed unguarded cease-fire lines and secured an alleged mass grave site for exhumation while arresting a number of former ethnic Albanian guerrillas.
10. John Phillips (2004). Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans. Yale University Press. p. 156. ISBN 9781860648410.
11. "Macedonia: Peace Process Breakthrough". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. 16 November 2001.
12. "Rebels kill three policemen in Macedonia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2022. It added: "The arrest of the seven Albanians has led to the killing of three Slav [Macedonian] paramilitaries and the wounding of more of them. It all happened in clashes with our units under commander Shqiponja 5 [Eagle 5]."
13. "Macedonia hawk demands crackdown". BBC. 12 November 2001.
14. "Macedonia: Parliament Delays Concluding Debate -- Again". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 13 November 2001.
15. Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (2007). The Balkans: A Post-communist History. Routledge. p. 448. ISBN 9780415229623.
16. "Remains of Macedonians found in mass grave". The New York Times. Agence France-Presse. 22 November 2001. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. The excavation was ordered by Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski, a hard-line Macedonian nationalist, who sent a special police unit to the area