Macedonia Declares Mourning For Police Killed in Gunbattles

Shooting continued Sunday morning in the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo, where gun battles raging on Saturday left at least five police dead and dozens wounded.

After a relatively silent night, more shots were heard about 7am Sunday as police swept the area for more alleged terrorists in and around the Divo Naselje district, which bore the brunt of the fighting on Saturday.

The government declared Sunday and Monday days of mourning for the dead police - all members of the anti-terrorist Tigers unit. The Skopje marathon that was due to take place Sunday was cancelled.

Media on Sunday reported that a sixth police officer had succumbed to his injuries in hospital after five were reported dead on Saturday.

Police spokesperson Ivo Kotevski said the exact death toll would be confirmed "after the activities on the ground are over", he told BIRN.

Heavy gunfire and explosions alarmed residents of the ethnically mixed town throughout Saturday. The intense fighting lasted for 16 hours until late at night, when the police said that most of the gunmen had either surrendered or been "neutralized".

"Security forces have never faced a more serious task. They fought a very dangerous terrorist group... The action will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized," Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska said on Saturday evening.

Jankuloska said that there were casualties among the terrorists as well. She had no information on civilian casualties.

Jankuloska said the gunmen had come from a "neighboring country". An MP from the ruling VMRO DPMNE party, Antonio Milosoki, said on twitter that the country in question was Kosovo. However, the Kosovo police said they had not noticed any suspicious groups recently.