SKOPJE, March 25 (Hina) - Macedonian troops have completed all tasks set for Sunday as part of an operation to oust the Albanian guerrilla on the hills overlooking Tetovo, Lieutenant Colonel Blagoja Markovski told a news conference
Sunday night. All villages between the mountain and Tetovo, as well as the Kale hill have been taken over. The military operation and confrontation between Macedonian armed forces and armed terrorists has proven to be justified; the extremists are providing well-organised resistance, and there has been some intelligence they were preparing new attacks on Tetovo, Markovski said. The terrorists are using local villagers as live shields. Fifteen of them have been apprehended, while smaller groups are changing into civilian clothes and retreating towards the Sar Mountain, he said. It has been confirmed that during the operations one police officer was heavily wounded and five civilians li
SKOPJE, March 25 (Hina) - Macedonian troops have completed all
tasks set for Sunday as part of an operation to oust the Albanian
guerrilla on the hills overlooking Tetovo, Lieutenant Colonel
Blagoja Markovski told a news conference Sunday night.
All villages between the mountain and Tetovo, as well as the Kale
hill have been taken over. The military operation and confrontation
between Macedonian armed forces and armed terrorists has proven to
be justified; the extremists are providing well-organised
resistance, and there has been some intelligence they were
preparing new attacks on Tetovo, Markovski said.
The terrorists are using local villagers as live shields. Fifteen
of them have been apprehended, while smaller groups are changing
into civilian clothes and retreating towards the Sar Mountain, he
said.
It has been confirmed that during the operations one police officer
was heavily wounded and five civilians lightly injured.
Macedonian officials have announced NATO Secretary-General George
Robertson and EU envoy for foreign and security issues, Javier
Solana, will be arriving in Skopje on Monday.
Representatives of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe observed the military and police operations in Tetovo.
The Macedonian Interior Ministry issued a statement confirming a
restriction in the freedom of movement has been introduced in
Tetovo since Sunday night, to be applied every night from 7pm to
6am.
The Albanian opposition party (Party of Democratic Progress)
asserted Sunday it would withdraw from the Macedonian parliament
unless both sides ceased military actions.
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is announced to be meeting
the leader of the Albanian party in parliament, Arben Djareri,
tonight.
(hina) lml