Brest attack explained

Conflict:Brest attack
Place:Brest, Čučer-Sandevo, Macedonia
Date:10 March 2001
Combatant1: National Liberation Army
Combatant2: Macedonian police
Result:NLA victory
Commander1: Xhezair Shaqiri[1]
Nazmi Sulejmani[2]
Commander2: Ljube Boškoski
Refet Elmazi
Aleksandar Dončev
Strength1: 30+ militants (police estimate)
Strength2: 100 policemen
Units1: 113th Brigade "Ismet Jashari"[3]
Units2: Special Support Unit
Casualties1: 1 killed
Casualties2: 1 killed[4]
Partof:the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
Territory:NLA captures Molino and Brest[5] [6]

The Brest attack was an attack by the National Liberation Army (NLA), near the village of Brest on 10 March 2001 during the insurgency in Macedonia.[7] [8] the NLA ambushed a Macedonian convoy, after they were defeated and forced to withdraw by KFOR troops in the village of Tanuševci.

Attack

After the Tanuševci operation, a Macedonian police convoy was sent to establish presence near the border to Kosovo and to try to prevent an Albanian insurgency by the NLA from taking hold in the area, but found itself trapped in an ambush by the NLA.[9] According to Macedonian police estimates, there were around 30 insurgents. Immediately after the ambush an hour-long battle involving artillery and heavy mortars erupted, after which most of the Macedonian convoy managed to escape. The fighting left one dead from the Macedonian Security forces.[10] After the firefight the NLA established control in Molino and Brest and the insurgency spread to wider parts of the country.[11] [12]

Aftermath

While the Macedonian convoy was able to break through the ambush, they were forced to seal off the village.[13] [14] The NLA took control of Molino and Brest, and the insurgency spread to wider parts in Macedonia[15]

According to the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the main motive behind the attack by the NLA was their resentment over the Ministry's establishment of cooperation with the local population, among whom there were those who volunteered to work in the planned reserve police stations.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Macedonia: Rebels: Ethnic Albanian rebel forces near the border . 2023-12-13 . newsroom.ap.org.
  2. Web site: Xhezair Shaqiri: Komandant Arusha luftoi në betejat më të vështira të UÇK-së në Brezë, Mateç dhe Haraçinë! . 2023-12-12 . Bota Sot . en.
  3. Web site: Xhezair Shaqiri: Komandant Arusha luftoi në betejat më të vështira të UÇK-së në Brezë, Mateç dhe Haraçinë! . 2023-12-12 . Bota Sot . en.
  4. News: G.I.'s Join Macedonians in Fight Against Albanian Rebels . The New York Times . 9 March 2001 . 3 September 2022 . Gall . Carlotta.
  5. Book: Phillips, John . Macedonia : warlords and rebels in the Balkans . 2004 . New Haven, CT : Yale University Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-300-10268-0 . 10 . The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units.
  6. News: Gall . Carlotta . 2001-03-10 . Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials . 2024-02-02 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331 . Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest..
  7. Web site: Vulnerability of former Yugoslav NATO (Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) and non-NATO (Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia) states . 24 August 2021 . Defending Eastern Europe . Manchester University Press . 10.7765/9781526147578.00013 . 9781526147578 . 242656223 . 20 November 2022.
  8. News: 9 March 2001 . Macedonian convoy escapes ambush . en-GB . 20 November 2022 . BBC.
  9. News: Gall . Carlotta . 2001-03-10 . Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-08 . 0362-4331 . claimed the lives of four members of the Macedonian security forces..
  10. News: G.I.'s Join Macedonians in Fight Against Albanian Rebels . The New York Times . 9 March 2001 . 3 September 2022 . Gall . Carlotta.
  11. Book: Phillips, John . Macedonia : warlords and rebels in the Balkans . 2004 . New Haven, CT : Yale University Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-300-10268-0 . 10 . The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units.
  12. News: Gall . Carlotta . 2001-03-10 . Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials . 2024-02-02 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331 . Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest..
  13. Web site: 10 March 2001 . Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials . 20 November 2022 . The New York Times . Later today, Macedonian police officers in flak jackets and helmets barred the narrow mountain road that winds up to the villages of Brest and Gusince. The shooting had quieted down about dawn, they said, but the convoy had not moved for fear of mines on the unpaved road..
  14. Web site: 9 March 2001 . Ethnic Albanian Extremists Ambush Macedonian Vehicle, Killing Policeman . 4 January 2023 . . Police have sent reinforcement to the area and managed to evacuate the convoy. The area has also been sealed off, the source said..
  15. Web site: Ceasefire hopes for Kosovo borders . 20 November 2022 . CNN.
  16. Web site: Kolevska . S. . 10 March 2001 . Полициски конвој 20 часа во терористички обрач во Брест, загина полицаец . Полициски конвој 20 часа во терористички обрач во Брест, загина полицаец . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194110/http://star.vest.com.mk/default.asp?id=2558&idg=1&idb=203&rubrika=Makedonija . 2016-03-04 . 2015-01-28 . Вест . mk.

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