Macedonian police release video of anti-terrorist operation

Macedonian police release video of anti-terrorist operation

SKOPJE -- The Macedonian police have published video footage of the operation they carried out in Kumanovo over the weekend when they "neutralized" a terrorist group.

The video shows members of the police during the operation, the firefights in the streets, the capturing of several terrorists and seizing of weapons, as well as those locations where the heaviest fighting occurred.

The operation in Kumanovo lasted over 30 hours on Saturday and Sunday, resulting in the deaths of eight police officer and 14 ethnic Albanian terrorists who attacked the police with automatic rifles, snipers, and hand grenades.

Macedonian police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said that the group numbered more than 40 people and that their goal was to "attack Macedonian institutions."

The clashes left the Kumanovo neighborhood of Divo heavily damaged.

The Serbian public broadcaster RTS said that the five suspected organizers of the terror group - Albanians from Kosovo - are not known only for "commanding paramilitary formations in the region" - but also for their "close ties with some Albanian politicians in Kosovo and Macedonia."