Post by radovic on Oct 31, 2007 15:12:11 GMT -5
Armed Groups Patrol FYROM
31 10 2007 Skopje, Tetovo_ Groups of men in black, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, have been patrolling north–western FYROM, stopping cars and asking people for IDs, witnesses have told Balkan Insight.
People from the Tetovo area, who have asked not to be identified, have told Balkan Insight, that patrols have been questioning people near Dobroste, on the Poroj-Jazince road, north of Tetovo.
Kanal 5 TV also reported on Tuesday that two groups of three or four armed men had been stopping passengers on the same road.
Witnesses told Balkan Insight the men had been first spotted when they started patrolling the road to Brodec and Sipkovica - a stronghold of ethnic Albanian guerrillas during the 2001 insurgency – a few weeks ago.
They would stop cars, ask for travellers’ identity cards, search their vehicles – allegedly for weapons – and then tell them to avoid the road in the evening.
Police have dismissed reports that any armed groups are operating in FYROM, and have said that some of the patrols reported on the Poroj–Jazince road were, in fact, conducted by special police forces in civilian clothes.
On Saturday, five workers from FYROMs main electricity supplier, ESM-EVN, were kidnapped and held for several hours by an unidentified armed group, in the vicinity of Sipkovica village.
Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski has confirmed that the workers reported the case but said, “the incident is still under investigation”.
The reports of unidentified armed men appeared shortly before a police officer was killed when his patrol came under attack on October 24 near the mountain village of Tanusevci, at the border with Kosovo, where the conflict had first started back in 2001.
Parliament held an emergency session to discuss the incident and Interior Minister, Gordana Jankulovska said a group of criminals and smugglers were suspected to have been behind the incident. To read more, see www.birn.eu.com/en/109/15/5401/
The presence of the paramilitary Albanian National Army, ANA, in neighbouring Kosovo has sparked fears of a potential spillover of violence into FYROM.
However, ANA has denied reports it was involved in the Tanusevci attack, and blamed the Serbian radical group, Tsar Lazar, for the attack.
Although apart from the killing of the police officer there have not been any major incidents, the latest sightings of armed men have increased fears of that there may be more trouble ahead.
Security expert Biljana Vankovska says that the lack of accurate information about the armed groups and the authorities’ uncoordinated actions have added to existing concerns.
“I don`t believe that 2001 will be repeated, but I am afraid this situation gives fertile ground for creating a perception that FYROM might be destabilized, playing into the hands of those who want Macedonia seen as a potential problem,” Vankovska told Balkan Insight.
Meanwhile, locals in Tetovo seem increasingly concerned about the latest developments. “It is visible that people are increasingly staying away from the streets in the evenings as very few seem to be comfortable walking around,” one young woman told Balkan Insight.
FYROMs security council, made up of the country’s leaders and top officials, was set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the security situation.
31 10 2007 Skopje, Tetovo_ Groups of men in black, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, have been patrolling north–western FYROM, stopping cars and asking people for IDs, witnesses have told Balkan Insight.
People from the Tetovo area, who have asked not to be identified, have told Balkan Insight, that patrols have been questioning people near Dobroste, on the Poroj-Jazince road, north of Tetovo.
Kanal 5 TV also reported on Tuesday that two groups of three or four armed men had been stopping passengers on the same road.
Witnesses told Balkan Insight the men had been first spotted when they started patrolling the road to Brodec and Sipkovica - a stronghold of ethnic Albanian guerrillas during the 2001 insurgency – a few weeks ago.
They would stop cars, ask for travellers’ identity cards, search their vehicles – allegedly for weapons – and then tell them to avoid the road in the evening.
Police have dismissed reports that any armed groups are operating in FYROM, and have said that some of the patrols reported on the Poroj–Jazince road were, in fact, conducted by special police forces in civilian clothes.
On Saturday, five workers from FYROMs main electricity supplier, ESM-EVN, were kidnapped and held for several hours by an unidentified armed group, in the vicinity of Sipkovica village.
Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski has confirmed that the workers reported the case but said, “the incident is still under investigation”.
The reports of unidentified armed men appeared shortly before a police officer was killed when his patrol came under attack on October 24 near the mountain village of Tanusevci, at the border with Kosovo, where the conflict had first started back in 2001.
Parliament held an emergency session to discuss the incident and Interior Minister, Gordana Jankulovska said a group of criminals and smugglers were suspected to have been behind the incident. To read more, see www.birn.eu.com/en/109/15/5401/
The presence of the paramilitary Albanian National Army, ANA, in neighbouring Kosovo has sparked fears of a potential spillover of violence into FYROM.
However, ANA has denied reports it was involved in the Tanusevci attack, and blamed the Serbian radical group, Tsar Lazar, for the attack.
Although apart from the killing of the police officer there have not been any major incidents, the latest sightings of armed men have increased fears of that there may be more trouble ahead.
Security expert Biljana Vankovska says that the lack of accurate information about the armed groups and the authorities’ uncoordinated actions have added to existing concerns.
“I don`t believe that 2001 will be repeated, but I am afraid this situation gives fertile ground for creating a perception that FYROM might be destabilized, playing into the hands of those who want Macedonia seen as a potential problem,” Vankovska told Balkan Insight.
Meanwhile, locals in Tetovo seem increasingly concerned about the latest developments. “It is visible that people are increasingly staying away from the streets in the evenings as very few seem to be comfortable walking around,” one young woman told Balkan Insight.
FYROMs security council, made up of the country’s leaders and top officials, was set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the security situation.