MACEDONIA: FIGHTING BETWEEN SECURITY FORCES AND ETHNIC ALBANIANS CONTINUES IN TETOVO AND AT A NEW FLASHPOINT IN GRACANI
Record ID:
376157
MACEDONIA: FIGHTING BETWEEN SECURITY FORCES AND ETHNIC ALBANIANS CONTINUES IN TETOVO AND AT A NEW FLASHPOINT IN GRACANI
- Title: MACEDONIA: FIGHTING BETWEEN SECURITY FORCES AND ETHNIC ALBANIANS CONTINUES IN TETOVO AND AT A NEW FLASHPOINT IN GRACANI
- Date: 24th March 2001
- Summary: TETOVO AND SURROUNDING AREA, MACEDONIA (MARCH 24, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE VIEW MACEDONIA CHECKPOINT 0.06 2. SLV: MACEDONIAN TANK FIRING TOWARDS THE HILLS 0.15 3. MV: MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS FIRING FROM BEHIND BARRICADE OF SANDBAGS 0.20 4. SLV: MACEDONIAN TANK FIRING 9,28 5. WIDE VIEW MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS FIRING FROM
- Embargoed: 8th April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TETOVO AND SURROUNDING AREA, SKOPJE, GRACANI, MACEDONIA
- Country: Macedonia
- Reuters ID: LVA6QCS1OCYLYZCOXYDX5022WT5K
- Story Text: Fighting in Macedonia has continued in Tetovo and
erupted at a new flashpoint in the town of Gracani.
Meanwhile, Red Cross workers in Skopje have been handing
out aid kits and blankets to refugees forced to flee the
growing conflict between Macedonian forces and suspected
Albanian rebels.
Macedonian forces fired heavy machine-gun rounds from
at least two sandbagged positions in Tetovo on Saturday (March
24) afternoon, following a relatively peaceful morning.
It was not immediately clear whether there was return fire
from the rebels, who say they are fighting for greater rights
for minority ethnic Albanians in Slav-dominated Macedonia.
Tetovo hospital director Raim Thaci said four injured
civilians, all Macedonian Slavs, had been brought to hospital
in the early afternoon.
Macedonian forces have been pounding the hills above
Tetovo for more than a week in an effort to evict the
guerrillas, who military analysts say number just a few
hundred.
Western leaders have given their full backing to the
Macedonian government, but have warned Skopje to exercise
military restraint and tackle ethnic Albanian grievances.
Meanwhile, fighting erupted at a new flashpoint in
Macedonia on Saturday with police forces fighting Albanian
rebels in the town of Gracani, some seven kilometres from the
Kosovo-Macedonian border and some 15 kilometres from Skopje.
All country roads into the area were sealed off by heavily
armed police roadblocks. A truckload of troops headed towards
the scene, but reporters were turned back by police who said
it was dangerous to go there.
A thick plume of smoke billowed skywards from Gracani and the
sound of heavy shelling was audible in the vicinity across the
bare hills near the border. The insurgents seized the village
on Wednesday (March 21) night.
In the Macedonian city of Skopje members of the Red Cross
handed out boxes of aid and blankets to the growing numbers of
refugees from Tetovo and other areas of conflict.
Red Cross officials said the numbers of displaced people in
the country had reached over 16,000 people.
The Macedonian government recently warned civilians to pack
up and leave the hillsides above Tetovo where security forces
have been blasting suspected rebel positions for almost 10
days.
Humanitarian officials have been working around the clock
to supply aid to the refugees in the form of food, blankets
and general aid kits.
Beljana Sekulovska, who fled Tetovo and collected aid from
the Red Cross in Skopje expressed support for the Macedonian
government and said, "We have peaceful Albanians and we
respect them but we don't respect the ones with weapons".
"We want this crisis to pass, I want to go back to
Tetovo," she added.
According to Red Cross reports refugees have fled to
countries such as Turkey, Albania, and Kosovo. Many displaced
people are living in the homes of friends and families, but
due to tight conditions are forced to sleep in cramped
conditions and on floor mattresses.
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