8 police, 14 alleged gunmen killed in Macedonia unrest

Eight police officers and 14 alleged members of an armed group have been killed in fighting in a northern Macedonian town, authorities said today, amid increased concern about the political stability in the Balkan nation that has a history of ethnic hostilities.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said 37 other police officers were wounded in the clashes that started yesterday.
Kotevski told reporters the police operation is now over and "one of the most dangerous terrorists groups in the Balkans has been neutralized."
He said police have found bodies of 14 individuals believed to be members of the armed group. Some of the killed wore uniforms with insignia of the disbanded ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army, or UCK. No identification documents were found on the deceased.

The UCK, an ethnic Albanian rebel group, fought Serb government forces for Kosovo independence in 1998-1999 and international peacekeepers still have a presence in Kosovo.
Kotevski named five leaders of the 44 member group, all citizens of Kosovo, as founders of paramilitary structures. He said the group entered Macedonia at the start of May with an aim to launch attacks on state institutions.

It was sheltered in Kumanovo's western neighborhood "Diva Naselba" and police found a huge arsenal of weapons at the location, he added.
Police have filed terrorism-related charges against more than 30 members of the group that have surrendered. Later today, they are expected to be brought before an investigative judge, who will decide on possible detention. Kotevski was not able to confirm any civilian casualties in the clashes.

The fighting comes as Macedonia is grappling with its deepest political crisis since its independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991. The government and the opposition have accused each other of planning to destabilize the country to take or preserve power, and some analysts fear leaders on both sides are ready to provoke ethnic clashes as leverage.
Kumanovo is an ethnically mixed town located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the capital Skopje, near the border with Kosovo and Serbia. The region was the center of hostilities between ethnic Albanian rebels and government forces during the ethnic conflict in 2001.