Battle of Raduša
Battle of Raduša | |||||||
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Part of the insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia | |||||||
Ruins of a train station destroyed after the battle in Raduša | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Macedonia | National Liberation Army | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Boris Trajkovski Vlado Bučkovski Pande Petrovski Ljube Boškoski Strašo Gligorov Risto Galevski Aco Stojanovski |
Rafiz Aliti Emrush Suma | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Macedonian Army Macedonian Police "Tigar" Special Police Unit | 115th Brigade | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
70 policemen and soldiers (initially)[1] 700 soldiers (August)[2] 1 T-55 tank (Start of battle) Mi-24 gunship 1 Su-25 | 200 militants (August)[3][4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown 1 T-55 tank lost[5] 2 APC's lost[5] | Unknown |
The battle of Raduša, also known as the battle for Rašče or the battle for the salvation of Rašče[6][7] was a series of skirmishes and ambushes that started in the middle of July 2001 and ended in a full-scale invasion of the Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) and Kosovo Protection Corps members from the territory of Kosovo concentrated at the Raduša police checkpoint and Army border outpost near the village of Rašče. This battle took place during the General Ceasefire Agreement and was the worst violation of the treaty with the NLA abusing the demilitarized zones around the border to advance.[8][9] The first incidents began near the end of June and escalated in the middle of August 2001. Despite heavy use of aerial bombardment, the insurgents of the NLA managed to destroy the Army outpost and police station after which the Macedonian police forces were withdrawn to secondary defensive positions.[10][11]
Background
The battle was part of the wider inter-ethnic conflict known as the Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia between the Albanian NLA and Macedonian Security Forces concentrated near the border with Kosovo. The brunt of the fighting happened near the village of Raduša and Bojane villages that guard the roads to the Rašče water supply which supplies water to the capital city of Skopje,[12] Raduša is 4.68 miles north of the water spring and Bojane is 3.13 miles to the west. Previously the NLA had cut off the water supply in the Lipkovo dam which provides the city of Kumanovo with water and electricity causing a humanitarian crisis in the city.[13][14][15][16] The NLA had previously also directly attacked the Rašče police station during the ceasefire but the Macedonian security forces did not respond to the provocations.[17][18]
The use of NATO brokered ceasefires to gain ground from places previously held by Macedonian security forces was a common NLA tactic throughout the war, this was the case in Tetovo after Operation MH which dislodged the rebels from Tetovo[19] and was used in Raduša as well, this was confirmed by NLA commander Petrit Menaj in his conversations with Ali Ahmeti the leader of the NLA nicknamed "Abaz", on 26 July 2001 Petrit received a message from NLA HQ instructing him to use the truce to expand the front and occupy dominant positions.[20] In his book he states:
One day as he (Ali Ahmeti) was getting ready to go to Prizren i said to him: "Today i have decided to end the truce. He smiled, said goodbye and we parted from each other. With Agron, Mahi and Zogu we went to Brodec and opened fire with a 120mm mortar on the positions of the enemy.[21]
In a report for OSCE, Harald Schenker stated:
The OSCE was in danger of becoming the object of the tensions within the crisis government, particularly as it had no mandate, let alone the power to prevent or even stop the territorial gains that the UCK/ NLA had made in the area north of Tetovo in clear violation of the ceasefire.[19]
Battle
Opening skirmishes
The first clash took place on 20 June 2001, when four policemen from the Raduša police station discovered an NLA camp of forty insurgents on the steps of Žeden mountain, during a patrol of the terrain on the border. The police patrol opened fire killing one insurgent and wounding another.[22] The patrol called on air support which came immediately and pushed the insurgents towards Kosovo.[22]
On 23 June, one of the most dramatic single events in the conflict occurred when another police border patrol was attacked in an NLA ambush near Raduša.[23] The police patrol was led by Aco Stojanovski, the Deputy-Commander of the Raduša police station.[24] The insurgents fired at the police vehicle with RPG rockets, throwing three policemen out of the car and leaving one inside.[9] The NLA attempted to approach the badly wounded policemen. Commander Stojanovski's firing six rounds from an AK-47 at the insurgents saved them until soldiers from the Raduša border post arrived and repelled the NLA with fire from an armored personnel carrier.[9] After the conflict, commander Stojanovski became the president of the Union of Army and Police veterans of the Conflict in Macedonia.[25]
After this ambush there were calls to seriously strengthen the defenses around Raduša in order to prevent the NLA from capturing the water supply near the village of Rasce which would have stopped the water supply to the capital city of Skopje.[26]
Major offensive
In the early hours of 10 August 2001, the NLA launched an offensive from the area of Krivenik in the Kosovo Municipality of Đeneral Janković (Hani i Elezit), invading the territory of Macedonia in the region of Raduša. The offensive took place during the ceasefire period, only days before the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. The first actions began at 20:00 the same day with a mortar attack on the Raduša police station, located at the entrance of the village. The police station was manned by only thirty-five policemen. The security forces returned fire and the shootout lasted until 2:00 A.M. Afterwards, the NLA initiated an infantry attack which was repelled by the police.[27] During the attack one police officer was injured.[28]
According to information obtained by the Macedonian intelligence service, the attack was conducted by more than six hundred NLA insurgents ,supported by volunteers from the Kosovo Protection Crops.[27] The Corps came from the town of Krivenik in Kosovo and crossed the Macedonian border into Raduša during the night. According to the same information, the NLA and KPC plan of action was to neutralise the security forces in the Raduša sector, then penetrate southwards and capture the Rašče water spring[29] which feeds the Macedonian capital Skopje with drinking water. Cutting water supplies would create a humanitarian crisis in the city.[30][citation needed]
The Ministry of Interior single-handedly declared an alert condition and sent detachments of the "Tiger" special police unit to dig in and secure the Rašče spring. Other detachments of the "Tiger" were sent to rescue thirty-five policemen surrounded at the Raduša station. Because of the lack of artillery support, and the overwhelming numbers of the NLA encirclement, they dug–in at positions outside Raduša.[9] The Minister of Interior Ljube Boškoski and Prime Minister Ljubčo Georgievski asked President Trajkovski for an immediate activation of the army in order to neutralise the invasion from Kosovo. The president, however, encouraged by the NATO and EU envoys, was concentrated on reaching a political solution that respected the conditions of the 5 July Ceasefire Agreement. He asked that the police not respond to provocations in order to avoid an escalation of the conflict. Meanwhile, the encircled policemen in the Raduša station were left on their own.[9][30]
On 11 August, the second day of the battle, the NLA began the most serious attack against the security forces in the Skopje region. A column of two hundred Albanian insurgents attacked the Raduša army border post with mortar, automatic rifle and sniper fire. The Raduša army border post, located between the villages of Kučkovo and Raduša, was manned by twenty-five soldiers with mortars, automatic rifles, one tank, and three armoured personnel carriers. At the same time, the NLA conducted another assault attack on the encircled police station at the Raduša village.[27] The army and police returned fire and, during the heavy fighting, the NLA managed to set fire to the petrol barrels within the barracks of the army border post. The insurgents managed to come so close that they started cutting the wire-fence.[31] The policemen also managed to repel all of the attacks made on 11 August.[27] Western media later showed images a Macedonian T-55 tank captured by the Albanian rebels in Raduša.[citation needed]
Aftermath
After the signing of the ceasefire Raduša was chosen as one of the designated collection sites for the voluntary disposal of NLA weapons where the 115th Brigade which took part in the battle disposed of its weapons and captured vehicles after the Macedonian security forces previously withdrew from the collection sites as was agreed with NATO, the NLA did not honor its commitment to withdraw to lines held before the 5 July ceasefire.[32][33][34]
See also
References
- ^ "North Macedonia's Conflict-Displaced Families Still Waiting for Homes". Balkan Insight. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Kämpfe und Waffenstillstand in Mazedonien". Neu Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Clashes threaten Macedonia deal". CNN world. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ "Frontline NLA Brigade Demobilizes". UPI. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ a b "JANES, Who are the NLA?". The Mail Archive, Janes Information Services. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "16 Години Од Славната Битка: Битката за Рашче и 70 полицајци кои ја спасија Македонија од хуманитарна криза". infomax. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Поминаа 16 години од битката која се закануваше да го парализира Скопје, а со тоа и Македонија. Битката која ќе значеше почеток на хуманитарна криза. Битката за изворот Рашче, која јуначки ја извојуваа околу 70-тина полицајци / 16 years have passed since the battle that threatened to paralyze Skopje, and thus Macedonia. The battle that would mean the beginning of a humanitarian crisis. The battle for the Rasce spring, which was heroically won by about 70 police officers
- ^ "19 Години од Епската битка кај Радуша". Shilomagazin. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Битката за Радуша за спас на Рашче / The battle for Radusa to save Rasce
- ^ Ward Anderson, John. "Macedonian Cease-Fire Violated". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Исповед – Радуша 2001". Звонко Младеновски. Скопје. 2003
- ^ "Frontline NLA Brigade Demobilizes". UPI. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
Mesuesi's troops were indeed among the most successful rebel units to fight government security forces. Operating for months from hidden positions in the hills, the rebels finally moved in to take this strategic town, capturing the police station and army barracks. The brigade got to within 10 miles of the capital, Skopje, just before political leaders signed a peace agreement.
- ^ "Macedonia Cease-Fire Raises Hopes for Peace Deal - 2001-08-12". VOA. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
In the town of Radusha, the rebels scored major successes against government security forces Saturday. Despite long-range rocket attacks and bombing by government warplanes, Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski said Sunday that police were forced to withdraw from the town after the police station and an adjacent watchtower were set ablaze by the rebels.
- ^ "New Fighting Imperils Pact In Macedonia". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
The fighting around Ljuboten followed clashes in the past 24 hours in the largely ethnic Albanian city of Tetovo and the northern village of Radusa, which is vital to retaining control of a reservoir that supplies Skopje./The government also closed off the main Skopje-Tetovo road this morning for hours after reports that insurgents had advanced toward another village, Bojane
- ^ "Macedonian town cut off from water supply". ReliefWeb. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
For the second time in three months, the UCK cut off the water supply of the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo, the Skopje daily "Utrinski vesnik" reported on 9 August.
- ^ Naegele, Jolyon (9 April 2008). "Macedonia: Army Declares Cease-Fire After UCK Ultimatum". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Presidential National Security Adviser Nikola Dimitrov told reporters in Skopje the cease-fire is intended to enable the restoration of water supplies to the district of Kumanovo as well as for food to reach the besieged ethnic Albanian village of Lipkovo. The Kumanovo area has been without water for days since the UCK stopped the flow from a key reservoir.
- ^ "Macedonian government launches new attack on rebels". The Guardian. 11 June 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
The fighting north of Kumanovo focuses on a strategically important rebel-held region near Lipkovo - insurgents there control a reservoir that normally supplies about 100,000 residents of Kumanovo with water. Since the rebels cut off water supplies nearly a week ago, Kumanovo's population has been supplied with tanker trucks from Macedonia and Bulgaria. The International Red Cross has tried to help end the shortages by mediating between the authorities and the rebels, with little success. Spokeswoman Amanda Williamson said that a team of engineers is ready to go up to Lipkovo lake and restart the supply system, but "we are still waiting for the security situation to improve" - shorthand for an end to fighting and a rebel invitation, both unlikely any time soon.
- ^ "Macedonia - Security: Cease-fire for averting humanitarian catastrophe in Kumanovo and Lipkovo". ReliefWeb. 12 June 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Skopje, June 12 - National Security Adviser to the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Nikola Dimitrov at yesterday's press conference in the Informative Center stated that the reason for the cease-fire in the Kumanovo-Lipkovo region was the attempt for averting two catastrophes, i.e. the problem with water supply in Kumanovo and the lack of food for the civilians in Lipkovo, who are being held hostages by the terrorists. According to him, this is a joint and coordinated operation of President Boris Trajkovski, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, Minister of Internal Affairs Ljube Boskoski, and Minister of Defense Vlado Buckovski, while the OSCE Mission is in charge of the operation. He added that the cease-fire will last as long as these humanitarian actions are completed.
- ^ "Interior Ministry: Guerrillas don't respect cease-fire". Shqiptarja.com. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
At 2:30 separate shots were heard coming from the suburb Drenovec, while an hour earlier the terrorists attacked the police station in Rasce.Macedonian security forces did not respond to any of these provocations
- ^ "Macedonia - Security: Action for evacuation of the terrorists from Aracinovo starts". ReliefWeb. 26 June 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
The incident happened some 500 meters from the location where the patrol of the Rasce police station was attacked two days ago.
- ^ a b Schenker, Harald. "The OSCE Mission to Skopje" (PDF). p. 4.
- ^ Menaj, Petrit. "NLA-message and hope by Petrit Menaj" (PDF) (in Macedonian). p. 71. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
Примирјето да послужи за да се прошириме на фронтот и за да зафаќаме владејачки позиции, зачувувајќки ги зафатените позиции. Let the truce serve to expand on the front and to occupy ruling positions, preserving the occupied positions.
- ^ Menaj, Petrit. "NLA-message and hope by Petrit Menaj" (PDF). p. 126. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Во Борби Кај Радуша. Разбиена терористичка група на Жеден" Дневник. 22 June 2001 Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Терористите нападнаа со зољи и минофрлачи а се најдовме и во вкрстен оган од автомати" Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Весник ВЕСТ. 5 December 2001
- ^ "Цела деценија ме измачува Радуша" Archived 27 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Нова Македонија. 24 June 2011
- ^ "Бранителите формираа унија". Дневник. 30 July 2007
- ^ "Рашче мора да се брани по секоја цена". Time.mk. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
Состојбата во реонот на планината Жеден е многу сериозна, таа бара безбедносните сили веднаш да реагираат, за да не бидеме изненадени ако утре, поради негрижа, главниот град остане без вода за пиење. На теренот околу Жеден му се потребни чистење од терористи и будно деноноќно чување. Поголеми докази од оние од пред пет дена, кога од заседа беше нападната полициска патрола и тешко беа ранети пет припадници на македонските сили за безбедност - не се потребни The situation in the Zheden mountain region is very serious, it requires the security forces to react immediately, so that we will not be surprised if tomorrow, due to carelessness, the capital is left without drinking water. The terrain around Zheden needs to be cleared of terrorists and guarded around the clock. Greater evidence than that of five days ago, when a police patrol was ambushed and five members of the Macedonian security forces were seriously wounded - they are not needed">
- ^ a b c d "Жестоки Борби Во Скопско – Заробени дваесетина терористи". Дневник. 13 August 2001 Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Нападнати пунктови на полицијата и на АРМ кај Радуша и Чашка" Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Весник ВЕСТ. 11 August 2001
- ^ Fisher, Ian (12 August 2001). "Macedonians Kidnapped By Guerrillas Tell of Abuse". New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ a b ""Погребите ја погребаа командната одговорност". Жаклина Митевска. Македонско Сонце. 28 јануари 2005" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ "Наместо награда за храброста,резервистот го прават луд!". Дневник. 18 March 2006 Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Press Briefing held on 7 September 2001 at the NATO Press Centre in Skopje". NATO.int. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
And just to provide you a little bit more information about the collection site that is now operational. It was established and fully operational at approximately 21:00, last night. It is located in the vicinity of Radusa.
- ^ Naegele, Jolyon (9 April 2008). "Macedonia: NATO Commander Assesses Preconditions For Deployment". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
For their part, Macedonian authorities are concerned with a requirement that their security forces withdraw from the areas around the arms collection points to create a non-hostile environment.
- ^ Naegele, Jolyon (9 April 2008). "Macedonia: NATO's 'Essential Harvest' Gets Under Way". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
Shpati says the UCK has information that Macedonian security forces are withdrawing their heavy weapons from the vicinity of the weapons collection points as stipulated in the U.S.- and EU-brokered peace deal of 13 August. However, he says the UCK is not withdrawing its forces to pre-5 July lines since, "we have nowhere to go."