Ambush near Tanuševci

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

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

Background

Main article: Battle of Tanuševci

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

Ambush

Albanian militants 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. 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. Bulletin of the European Union. European Commission, Secretariat-General. 2001. p. 86.
7. 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.