Blace bunker raid
Date29–30 April 2010
Location
Near the village of Blace on the Kosovo border
Result

Macedonian victory[1]

  • Armed group routed[1]
  • Macedonian police seize bunkers and weapons caches[1][2]
Belligerents
 Macedonia NLA Veterans[3]
Commanders and leaders
Pres. Gjorge Ivanov
PM Nikola Gruevski
Gordana Jankuloska		 Unknown
Units involved
Special Police Unit "Tigar"[1] Unknown
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
None[3] 1 wounded[1]
7 suspects arrested by the Kosovo Police[4]

The Blace bunker raid was a Macedonian police operation to seize guarded weapons caches and bunkers held by members of the National Liberation Army in late April 2010 near the Kosovo border. The raid was conducted by members of the Macedonian Special Police Unit "Tigar".

Background

Armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonian security forces had previously occurred during the larger 2001 insurgency in Macedonia and during Operation Mountain Storm in the Tetovo region in 2007.

Raid

The raid occurred on 29 April 2010 and lasted the following day with Macedonian security forces engaging in brief skirmishes with members of the NLA who were guarding bunkers and weapons cashes on the Macedonian-Kosovo border. The Macedonian police forces successfully engaged the rebels who fled to Kosovo after a short fire exchange. The Macedonian police forces continued to "comb" the region and discovered a large quantity of weapons including 20 missiles, three mortars, three field guns, TNT explosives, hand grenades and anti-tank mines, also uncovered were emblems of uniforms of the former NLA. The Macedonian government claimed that the group was planning large military operations to destabilize Macedonia and the wider Balkan region. A group claiming to be the NLA claimed responsibility for the attack, although former leader of the NLA and member of the Macedonian government Ali Ahmeti denied that the NLA was responsible for the weapons caches and the firefight with the police, he condemned the use of violence by the group.[5][1][3] NATO expressed concern and the large quantity of weapons found in the cashes, Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command in Naples on his visit to Kosovo considered the incident worrying and one that could potentially destabilise a country like Macedonia.[2]

Aftermath

Two weeks after the bunker raid the Macedonian police engaged in a shootout with veterans of the NLA who were smuggling weapons near the Kosovo border, Macedonian media suspected the two incidents were related but the Macedonian government refused to speculate on the issue.[6] According to Macedonian Alpha TV the perpetrators of the 2015 Kumanovo clashes and the attack on the border post in Gošince were men who were previously involved with the incidents with the weapons cashes.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (30 April 2010). "Macedonia Uncovers Additional Weapons Stash". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Unofficially local media reported that several armed and uniformed men who were guarding the weapons on Thursday opened fire on the special police forces after which they fled to Kosovo. Local A1 TV reported at least one armed man was wounded by police. The arsenal of arms found yesterday reportedly contained many weapons, including machine guns, manual missile launchers, anti-tank mines, explosives, and detonators. Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said the police unit "Tigers" launched the operation on early Thursday following intelligence reports on stored weapons several kilometers northeast of Blace village near the Blace border crossing.
  2. 1 2 Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (6 May 2010). "NATO: Weapons Cache in Macedonia "Worrying"". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022. "The quantity of seized ammunitions was very large and this is very worrying for us," Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, said during his visit to Kosovo, AFP reported. "Such actions could destabilise a country like Macedonia, so we have to be concerned," he told media. Macedonian police last Thursday siezed a weapons stash hidden in the mountainous terrain near the village of Blace in the very sensitive border area with Kosovo. The stash included 20 missiles, three mortars, three field guns, 81 kg of plastic explosives, and hundreds of grenades and mines.
  3. 1 2 3 "4 killed in shoot-out on Macedonia-Kosovo border". Chinadaily. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Earlier this month, a former ethnic Albanian rebel group, the National Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for another shootout in the border area, which it said killed a Macedonian soldier. The Macedonian government had said nobody had been hurt in that shooting.
  4. ↑ "Пронајден нов бункер со оружје кај Блаце". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Македонската полиција денеска пронајде уште еден бункер со оружје и муниција во близина на Блаце. Од македонското министерство за внатрешни работи нагласуваат дека полицијата продолжува со „чешлање" на теренот. Според министерката за внатрешни работи Гордана Јанкуловска, запленетото оружје и' припаѓало на екстремистичка група која планирала операции не само во Македонија, туку и пошироко во регионот. Јанкуловска, сепак, оцени дека нема потреба од загриженост на граѓаните за нивната безбедност. Macedonian police today found another bunker with weapons and ammunition near Blace. The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the police continue to "comb" the area. According to the Minister of the Interior, Gordana Jankulovska, the seized weapons belonged to an extremist group that planned operations not only in Macedonia, but also in the wider region. Jankulovska, however, assessed that there is no need for citizens to worry about their safety.
  5. ↑ "Пронајден нов бункер со оружје кај Блаце". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Македонската полиција денеска пронајде уште еден бункер со оружје и муниција во близина на Блаце. Од македонското министерство за внатрешни работи нагласуваат дека полицијата продолжува со „чешлање" на теренот. Според министерката за внатрешни работи Гордана Јанкуловска, запленетото оружје и' припаѓало на екстремистичка група која планирала операции не само во Македонија, туку и пошироко во регионот. Јанкуловска, сепак, оцени дека нема потреба од загриженост на граѓаните за нивната безбедност. Macedonian police today found another bunker with weapons and ammunition near Blace. The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the police continue to "comb" the area. According to the Minister of the Interior, Gordana Jankulovska, the seized weapons belonged to an extremist group that planned operations not only in Macedonia, but also in the wider region. Jankulovska, however, assessed that there is no need for citizens to worry about their safety.
  6. ↑ Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (12 May 2010). "Macedonian Police Kill Four Gunmen in Shootout". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 16 October 2022. "At this phase I would not link the two incidents," Macedonian Minister of Police Gordana Jankulovska told media today, referring to the recent discovery of weapons caches in the same area of Macedonia. "The police are working on the case and are still on the ground," she said, adding that violence will not be tolerated and that the police have the situation under control. So far it is not clear whether this incident is linked with that in late April when the police in the same border region with Kosovo found a large weapons stash and clashed with the uniformed gunmen who were guarding it.
  7. ↑ "Кумановските терористи оставиле печат уште во 2010 во бункер кај Блаце". Alfa MK (in Macedonian). Retrieved 16 October 2022. Дел од екстремистите кои дејствуваа во Куманово и Гошинце во април и мај годинава, оставиле траги зад себе уште пред 5 години во упориште на Скопска Црна Гора, откриле вештаците на МВР, велат извори од истрагата за Алфа. Some of the extremists who operated in Kumanovo and Goshince in April and May of this year, left traces behind 5 years ago in a stronghold of Skopje Montenegro, the experts of the Ministry of the Interior discovered, sources from the Alfa investigation say.
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