2001 Vejce massacre

Ambush near Vejce, Macedonia Vejce massacre the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia Поглед на Вејце.jpg 28 April 2001 at about 5:45 p.m Between Selce and Vejce NLA victory Anti-Albanian sentiment spreads across the country with anti-Albanian protests and riots across the city ICTY launches a war crime inquiry in November 2001 Macedonia Uck Nla logo.svg 22px National Liberation Army Army of the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Army Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Special Operations Regiment Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Special Forces Battalion “Wolves” Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png 22px Ministry of Interior Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Police MVR PEP logo.png 22px Special Support Unit MVR PEP logo.png 22px Bitola Unit Uck Nla logo.svg 22px Unknowm Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Robert PetkovskiПолк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Boban TrajkovskiПолк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Igor Kosteski Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px Mile Janevski Uck Nla logo.svg 22px Unknown Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px 8 soldiersMVR PEP logo.png 22px 8 policemen Uck Nla logo.svg 22px Unknown Полк за специјални опрации.svg 22px 4 soldiers killedПолк за специјални опрации.svg 22px 1 Humvee destroyedПолк за специјални опрации.svg 22px 1 Humvee damagedMVR PEP logo.png 22px 4 policemen killedMVR PEP logo.png 22px 1 Lada Niva destroyedMVR PEP logo.png 22px 1 Lada Niva damaged Uck Nla logo.svg 22px None 300 The Vejce massacre, also known as the Vejce ambush, was carried out by the National Liberation Army against a convoy consisting of Macedonian special forces near the village of Vejce during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. During the attack, eight members were killed.8 soldiers slain in ambush near Albanian region https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-04-29-0104290288-story.html 29 April 2001 Chicago Tribune 5 February 2015 Ambush On 28 April 2001, 16 Macedonian soldiers and police officers were carrying out a routine patrol.Skopje peace talks in peril after massacre of patrol https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/30/balkans The Guardian 30 April 2001 At approximately 5:45 p.m., ethnic Albanian militants carried out an ambush on the convoy positioned between the villages Selce and Vejce.Macedonia on alert after killings https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/29/macedonia.deaths.03/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20010505213445/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/29/macedonia.deaths.03/index.html dead May 5, 2001 CNN 29 April 2001Poolos Alexandra 30 April 2001 Macedonia: Ambush Derails Prospects For Truce With Ethnic Albanians https://www.rferl.org/a/1096325.html Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyГодишнина од масакрот кај Вејце Anniversary of the Vejce massacre https://www.slobodenpecat.mk/godishnina-od-masakrot-kaj-vejce/ 9 December 2023 Sloboden Pecat 28 April 2023 mk Out of the 16 members, 8 were killed, half of the total. The killed officers Marjan Božinovski, Kire Kostadinovski, Boško Najdovski and Ilče Stojanovski were members of the special police unit from Bitola. The killed soldiers Robert Petkovski, Boban Trajkovski, Igor Kosteski and Mile Janevski were sergeants. A Hummer and a Lada Niva were destroyed, and other two vehicles sustained damage. According to Macedonian news sources and the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the soldiers were mutilated and burned alive.White Book: Terrorism of the So-Called NLA 2001 Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia Skopje 112–113; 192–195 http://star.dnevnik.com.mk/whitebook/ 5 March 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150305050513/http://star.dnevnik.com.mk/whitebook/ deadThe Vejce massacre (Macedonian) http://de.scribd.com/doc/46590066/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82-%D0%B2%D0%BE-%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%98%D1%86%D0%B5#scribd Makedonsko Sonce 5 February 2015Changova Katica 16 October 2006 Осумкратното убиство кај Вејце сè уште нерасветлено The eightfold murder near Vejce is still unsolved http://star.utrinski.com.mk/?pBroj=856&stID=9235&pR=3 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160305113621/http://star.utrinski.com.mk/?pBroj=856&stID=9235&pR=3 5 March 2016 10 December 2023 Utrinski Vesnik mk Aftermath According to Amnesty International, the Macedonian government labeled the Vejce ambush as a crime against humanity.Amnesty International Annual Report 2002 https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/0001/2002/en/ Amnesty International 164 27 May 2002 The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs also designated it as a terrorist attack. Per Macedonian news sources, autopsies were carried out in a military morgue. Subsequently, news of the deaths fueled local unrest, sparking riots against ethnic Albanians in several towns and cities across Macedonia. These disturbances encompassed the burning and vandalizing of shops and mosques.Sotirovska Natali N. RMK Ahmeti Should Face Criminal Charges For Vejce Massacre https://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/60966 dead https://archive.today/20120630184140/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/60966 30 June 2012 9 July 2009 dmyEight years since the Vejce massacre http://www.morm.gov.mk/morm/en/pr/news/8_god_od_vejce.html Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Macedonia https://archive.today/20090722200854/http://www.morm.gov.mk:8080/morm/en/pr/news/8_god_od_vejce.html 22 July 2009 dead 9 July 2009 dmy A war crime inquiry regarding the ambush was launched by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in November 2001.Macedonia 'war crimes' probe https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1667253.stm BBC News 20 November 2001Blast as Macedonia probe begins https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/11/21/macedonia.blast/index.html CNN 21 November 2001Jovanovski Vladimir 23 November 2001 Macedonia: War Crimes Inquiries Begin https://iwpr.net/global-voices/macedonia-war-crimes-inquiries-begin Institute for War and Peace Reporting The ICTY returned the case to the local Macedonian courts on 2007.Petrovic Predrag 18 September 2007 IN DEPTH: War Crimes Trials Pose Test for Macedonia https://balkaninsight.com/2007/09/18/in-depth-war-crimes-trials-pose-test-for-macedonia/ Balkan Insight (BIRN) The killed members of the state forces were commemorated for the first time in 2002 at their graves. Memorial plaques were also set up in their birthplaces. In 2009, the Makedonska Kamenica Municipality named an elementary school in honor of Mile Janevski and affirmed the day of the ambush as the school's patron day. A monument has been created in the center of Bitola, while a memorial also opened in Dračevo, Skopje, in 2013. Ethnic Albanians reacted negatively to the commemorations and in 2003, a group of them blocked a convoy of participants commemorating. Some monuments were destroyed.Naum Trajanovski Remembering the 2001 Armed Conflict in Macedonia: MODES OF COMMEMORATION AND MEMORIALIZATION 2022 Humanitarian Law Center 26–27 978-86-7932-124-4 https://www.ceeol.com/search/book-detail?id=1278056 Reactions The Secretary General of NATO at the time, George Robertson, condemned the ambush, stating: "I condemn the cowardly acts of the extremists and my message is simple: the violence must end and their tactics will not be successful." Macedonia on alert after killings 29 April 2001 https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/29/macedonia.deaths.03/index.html 9 December 2023 The attack was also condemned by the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana.Macedonian border deaths condemned https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1302478.stm BBC News 29 April 2001 Anthropologist Vasiliki Neofotistos wrote of "the gruesome event that came to be known as the Vejce massacre" and its aftermath:Neofotistos Vasiliki P. https://books.google.com/books?id=o7YnSqzV7ucC The Risk of War: Everyday Sociality in the Republic of Macedonia 2012-03-14 University of Pennsylvania Press 978-0-8122-0656-2 54–55 en "On 28 April NLA insurgents killed eight Macedonian male commandos in the Macedonian Army Special Forces, also known as "Wolves" (Volci), in an ambush near the village of Vejce, nine miles north of Tetovo. According to the eyewitness account of the only Macedonian soldier who managed to escape the ambush, the assailants were bearded men. The killing shocked public opinion because the reportedly bearded assailants used knives to dig out the eyes and cut off the ears and genitals of the Macedonian soldiers while the soldiers were still alive, and raised once again haunting questions concerning the origin of the people who committed these atrocious acts. The mutilation of the commandos' bodies, together with rumors about mujahideen groups operating in Macedonia, motivated people to action: in the city of Bitola (home of four of the commandos), Macedonians formed community self-defense groups; in Skopje, gunmen in a passing car opened fire on the Albanian Embassy and on an Albanian-owned pizzeria, killing an Albanian man; businesses and stores of Albanians and other Muslims in both cities were looted or burned." According to Nikola Dimitrov in an interview with The Guardian:Wood Nicholas 2001-04-30 Skopje peace talks in peril after massacre of patrol https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/30/balkans 2020-04-28 The Guardian en-GB 0261-3077 "They were hit by everything," said Nikola Dimitrov, then-security adviser to President Boris Trajkovski. "They used hand grenades, rocket launchers and machine guns. He said the guerrilla's had gone out of their way to disfigure the corpses. "It's unbelievable, and it's going to damage the political process. Now it will be so difficult to proceed." Nikola Dimitrov The leader of the NLA at the time, Ali Ahmeti, claimed that the ethnic Albanian fighters had not attacked the Macedonians, stating they were acting in self-defense and were fired on first by the Macedonian patrol. The claim was not independently confirmed. The United Nations Security Council condemned the ambush, calling it "cowardly" and "brutal".Security Council members, Annan condemn ambush in FRY of Macedonia https://news.un.org/en/story/2001/04/2882 United Nations 30 April 2001 See also Karpalak ambush Ambush near Treboš References North Macedonia Category:Attacks in Europe in 2001 Category:Ambushes of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia Category:Tetovo Municipality Category:April 2001 in Europe Category:Fires in North Macedonia Category:Massacres in North Macedonia Category:Massacres in 2001 Category:21st-century mass murders in Europe Category:Massacres in the Yugoslav Wars Category:2001 road incidents Category:2000s road incidents in Europe Category:Road incidents in North Macedonia Category:Arson deaths Category:Attacks on mosques in Europe Category:Arson in 2001 Category:Mosque arson Category:Building and structure arson attacks in Europe Category:Attacks on shops in Europe Category:Mutilation Category:2001 riots Category:Ethnic riots Category:Anti-Albanian sentiment Category:Riots and civil disorder in Europe