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Albanian National Army

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(Redirected from AKSH)
Not to be confused with Military of Albania.

Albanian National Army
Armata Kombëtare Shqiptare
LeadersAlban Parishi[1]
Wigan Gradica[2]
Avdil Jakupi[3]
Agim Krasniqi[4][5]
Active regionsKosovo
Polog, North Macedonia
Preševo Valley
IdeologyAlbanian nationalism
Greater Albania
Allies National Liberation Army
OpponentsNorth Macedonia Macedonia
Serbia Serbia
KFOR
United Nations UNMIK
Tsar Lazar Guard
Battles and wars

The Albanian National Army (ANA; Albanian: Armata Kombëtare Shqiptare, AKSh)[8] is an Albanian paramilitary organization which operates in North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. The group opposes the Ohrid Framework Agreement which ended the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia between members of the National Liberation Army and Macedonian security forces.[9]

History

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ANA's dates of origin are unclear but most observers agree that it was founded between 1999 and 2001.[10][11] The organization is associated with FBKSh (National Front for Reunification of Albanians), its political wing.[12] ANA released a communiqué in February 2000, claiming responsibility for a January 13, 2000, attack in Aračinovo that resulted in the deaths of four Macedonian police officers.[13] In August 2001, during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, it claimed responsibility for killing 10 Macedonian soldiers near Karpalak.[14] ANA condemned the Ohrid agreement and vowed to continue fighting.[15] It declared that it would fight for the creation of Greater Albania.[16]

ANA claimed responsibility for the ambush near Treboš on November 11, 2001,[17] which resulted in the deaths of three policemen and the wounding of three policemen.[18] After the Macedonian parliament adopted the Ohrid agreement's amendments on November 16, ANA announced the beginning of a "war for the liberation of all Albanian territories in former Yugoslavia."[19] However, it admitted to having only a few dozen members.[15] On April 26, 2002, ANA members attacked former National Liberation Army (NLA) members in the village of Mala Rečica near Tetovo.[20][21] The shootout lasted around two and a half hours.[22] According to some news sources, two people were killed and five were injured.[23][24][25] In March 17, 2002, ANA declared the villages of Lisec and Golema Rečica in the Tetovo region, and the neighboring region of Rasadište "liberated territories."[26] After former NLA leader Ali Ahmeti entered mainstream politics in 2002, ANA accused him of betraying Albanian national interests.[14] Both Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and NATO spokesman Mark Laity said the group has no public support.[27][28]

In February 2003, it claimed responsibility for blowing up a courthouse in Struga.[15] The ANA appeared in Kosovo in 2003, where on March 7, two members trying to detonate a bomb were shot and killed by Serbian police.[29] The United Nations Mission in Kosovo added ANA to the UN's official list of terrorist organizations on April 17 after it claimed responsibility for blowing up a railway bridge in a Serb-inhabited part of northern Kosovo.[30] In September 7, 2003, members of ANA clashed with Macedonian security forces on the border with Kosovo, which resulted in the death of two ethnic Albanian gunmen and one civilian.[15] In 2004 and 2005 a group of 80 militants[31] led by a commander of ANA Agim Krasniqi,[32] controlled the village of Kondovo twice.[33] Through the media, Krasniqi threatened to shell Skopje and his men kidnapped and beat four police officers.[34] After this the ANA withdrew into Kosovo.[35][36]

In 2007, a video was aired by Kosovar television stations depicting a band of medium-armed, masked individuals intercepting cars.[37] In October 2007 the unit declared it would seize the Serb exclave of North Kosovo by force if the Kosovo Protection Force did not occupy it by November 1, 2007. The ANA has claimed that it is patrolling North Kosovo to prevent incursions by the Tsar Lazar Guard.[38][39]

On November 13, 2007, a video was aired to the public,[40][41] an exclusive interview with a leader of the ANA, nicknamed "Commander Preka", patrolling in the covert areas of North Kosovo, recruiting 20 new men.[42][43] The leader stated that ANA stands at 12,000 men altogether and has called the Kosovar population for a boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections.[40][41]

"The talks will fail, there will be no success. From the year 2000 they [the government] have all lied to us, they say this meeting then the next meeting. We do not believe in them. We do not believe in our leaders, they all lie to us. Therefore we call upon all members, civilian and military, that belong to ANA, to boycott the upcoming elections."

— "Commander Preka"

In 2008, a leader of ANA said that they are "not fighting for pan-Albanian unification, but to protect the territorial integrity of Kosovo if it is threatened."[16][44] In 2016 Albanian militiamen presenting themselves as the "21st Brigade" published a video showing their weapons and threatening to move through northern Albania and the Preševo Valley. They also mentioned that they had the support of the population and that they had hundreds of men.[45]

Membership and funding

[edit]

The organization consists of residents of North Macedonia and South Serbia, mostly members of the former Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, as well as former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.[30] Its exact size is unclear. IWPR estimated the number of ANA members at around 200 in 2005.[27] Per Southeast European Times in 2007, the organization had roughly 12,000 members.[11] ANA bought weapons from criminal groups in neighboring countries, smuggling them into North Macedonia with horses.[46] Per professor of international relations Maria Koinova, there are allegations that diaspora radicals have funded ANA.[47] In 2002, according to the Macedonian Ministry of Interior, the organization was involved in drug smuggling and used the money to fund its activities in the country.[48]

In 2004, Avdil Jakupi surrendered to authorities in Kosovo.[49] The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo transferred him to the Republic on Macedonia on April 29.[50] He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for kidnapping and robbery.[51][52][53][54] The Albanian political leader Gafur Adili was banned from living in Switzerland in September 2003.[55] He was placed under house arrest in Tirana in the next year.[47] A group led by Lirim Jakupi was originally part of ANA until his imprisonment in Kosovo for attempted murder.[32] In early September 2010, Jakupi,[56] was arrested in Pristina, Kosovo by the Kosovo Police, along with an AK-47, hand grenades, and pistols.[57][58][59][60] He was released in 2017.[61]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ответственность за убийство полицейских и захват заложников в Македонии взяла на себя "Албанская национальная армия"". В Мире (in Russian). NEWSru.com. November 12, 2001. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  2. ^ "Албанские экстремисты угрожают миротворцам". Хроника событий (in Russian). ТерроруНЕТ. October 5, 2003. Retrieved February 29, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Экстремистские силы албанцев на севере Македонии мобилизуют свои силы". September 2, 2003. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Ex-Guerrilla Arrested in Macedonia Vote Violence - Europe - Around the globe - World". Dalje.com. June 1, 2008. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  5. ^ "Macedonian News: Attempt at Agim Krasniqi's life reported". Vmacedonianews.com. July 17, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Macedonia - defense: Buckovski: "Let tragedy be the beginning of the end of the war"". Relief.web. August 10, 2001. Retrieved June 26, 2022. "ANA" CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING OF TEN MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS Skopje, August 10 - A new armed group of ethnic Albanians on Thursday claimed responsibility for the killing of ten Macedonian army reservists in a highway ambush a day earlier. The "Albanian National Army" (AKSH) e-mailed a statement to several media in the region, on Albanian-language, saying a combined unit of its fighters and of the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) carried the attack out "in revenge" for the killing of five NLA members by Macedonian security forces.
  7. ^ ""Albanische Nationalarmee" bekennt sich zu Anschlag im südserbischen Presevo-Tal – DW – 13.08.2003".
  8. ^ "Новая албанская банда ответит за 10 убитых македонцев" [The new Albanian gang will be responsible for the 10 killed Macedonians]. RBK Group. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  9. ^ "Albanian National Army (ANA)(AKSh)". Terrorism Research. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Michael J. Boyle (2014). Violence After War: Explaining Instability in Post-Conflict States. JHU Press. pp. 190–191. ISBN 9781421412573.
  11. ^ a b Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (August 27, 2008). "Kosovo/Albania: Albanian National Army (Armata Kombetare Shqiptare, AKSh) operating in Kosovo". UNHCR. Ottawa: Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
  12. ^ "Kosovo Downplays March by Banned Paramilitaries". Balkan Insight. April 15, 2011.
  13. ^ Suzette R. Grillot; Wolf-Christian Paes; Hans Risser; Shelly O. Stoneman (June 2004). "A Fragile Peace: Guns and Security in Post-conflict Macedonia" (PDF). The Small Arms Survey. pp. 24–25.
  14. ^ a b "Macedonia: Militants Threaten Renewed Conflict". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. September 6, 2005.
  15. ^ a b c d Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (2007). The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. Routledge. pp. 440, 448, 451–452. ISBN 9781134583287.
  16. ^ a b Vera Stojarová (2013). The Far Right in the Balkans. Manchester University Press. pp. 140, 147. ISBN 9780719089732.
  17. ^ "Rebels kill three policemen in Macedonia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2022. In a statement yesterday, a dissident ethnic Albanian group calling itself the Albanian National Army claimed responsibility for the killings, saying: "The Skopje government is restarting its terror and sees war as the only response to Albanian demands."
  18. ^ "Macedonia: Peace Process Breakthrough". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. November 16, 2001.
  19. ^ "Macedonian MPs finally ratify peace-deal reforms for Albanians". The Guardian. November 17, 2001.
  20. ^ "World Briefing | Europe: Macedonia: Albanians In Gun Battle". The New York Times. March 26, 2002. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  21. ^ "MACEDONIA: Shootout in Tetovo, some of the victims identified - Shqiptarja". shqiptarja.com (in Albanian). Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  22. ^ "A shootout disrupts Macedonia's calm - the Republic of North Macedonia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. April 5, 2002. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  23. ^ "CNN.com - New gun battle in Macedonia - April 4, 2002". www.cnn.com. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  24. ^ Naegele, Jolyon (April 9, 2008). "Macedonia: Clashes Erupt Between Albanian Factions". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  25. ^ "Spannungen unter Mazedoniens Albanern". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). March 28, 2002. ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  26. ^ Wim van Meurs, ed. (2013). Prospects and Risks Beyond EU Enlargement: Southeastern Europe: Weak States and Strong International Support. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 123. ISBN 9783663111832.
  27. ^ a b "ANA Fails to Stir Albanian Passions". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. September 6, 2005.
  28. ^ "Macedonia: NATO Says Albanian National Army 'Not Substantial'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. September 2, 2003.
  29. ^ Serbia and Montenegro: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2003 U.S. Department of State. February 25, 2004.
  30. ^ a b S. Cross; S. Kentera; R. Vukadinovic; R. Nation, eds. (2013). Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration. Springer. pp. 98, 101. ISBN 9781137010209.
  31. ^ "Macedonian Opposition Parties Cry Foul Over Government's Handling of Armed Standoff". SETimes.com. September 29, 2005. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  32. ^ a b Danilo Mandić (2020). Gangsters and Other Statesmen: Mafias, Separatists, and Torn States in a Globalized World. Princeton University Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780691187877.
  33. ^ Jana Arsovska (2015). Decoding Albanian Organized Crime: Culture, Politics, and Globalization. University of California Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780520958715.
  34. ^ "Macedonian News: Attempt at Agim Krasniqi's life reported". Vmacedonianews.com. July 17, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  35. ^ "Красниќи ќе се врати во Кондово". Time.mk. Retrieved October 17, 2022. Агим Красниќи и Лирим Какупи - Нацист не се во Кондово, ниту пак во Македонија. Тие пристигнаа во Косово. Беше прифатено нивното барање да не се гонат, во замена за нивно заминување од селото Agim Krasniqi and Lirim Kakupi - Nazis are not in Kondovo, nor in Macedonia. They arrived in Kosovo. Their request not to be prosecuted was accepted, in exchange for their departure from the village
  36. ^ "Albanian Gunman's Release Sparks Fury in Macedonia". iwpr.net. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  37. ^ "Armed Groups Patrolling Kosovo". Balkan Insight. October 4, 2007.
  38. ^ Report: ANA paramilitaries patrolling northern Kosovo towns
  39. ^ "AP: Albanian terror group patrols northern Kosovo". B92. November 13, 2007.
  40. ^ a b ""Albanian National Army". Terrorists. Kosovo. November 2007". YouTube. November 13, 2007.
  41. ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE NEWS FEATURE Albanian paramilitaries prepare to defend Kosovo". YouTube. July 21, 2015.
  42. ^ "ВЗГЛЯД / Албанские боевики в Косове угрожают войной". March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  43. ^ "Албанские боевики угрожают силой провозгласить независимость Косово". webcitation.org (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  44. ^ "Kosovo terror group issues fresh threats". B92. January 21, 2008.
  45. ^ "Terrorist Albanian National Army "appears" in Kosovo". B92,net. April 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  46. ^ Eran Zohar (2023). Understanding Non-State Actors: How Rebels Acquire Their Weapons. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 249. ISBN 9783111065557.
  47. ^ a b Maria Koinova (2013). Ethnonationalist Conflict in Postcommunist States: Varieties of Governance in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 198, 199. ISBN 9780812245226.
  48. ^ Lyubov Grigorova; Ted Robert Gurr (2013). Crime-terror Alliances and the State: Ethnonationalist and Islamist Challenges to Regional Security. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 9780415506489.
  49. ^ "Albanischer Extremist stellt sich den Behörden in Kosovo". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). February 3, 2004. ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  50. ^ "Transfer of Two Macedonian Nationals to the Custody of the Government of FYROM". UNMIK. April 29, 2004.
  51. ^ "Newsline - December 21, 2004". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. December 21, 2004.
  52. ^ "KOSOVO: KFORJU SE JE PREDAL AVDIL JAKUPI". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  53. ^ "Pas 14 viteve në burg. lirohet Avdil Jakupi (Çakalla)". fax.al. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  54. ^ "Schwere Vorwürfe gegen mazedonische Regierung: Verbindungen zur Mafia und Destabilisierungsversuche – DW – 05.09.2003". dw.com (in German). Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  55. ^ "New concerns over Albanian guerrillas". BBC. September 5, 2003.
  56. ^ "Firefight Kills Eight In Macedonia Near Kosovo Border". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. November 8, 2007.
  57. ^ "Lirim Jakupi-Nacist arrested in Pristina". Idividi.
  58. ^ "Notorious Balkans criminal 'Nazi' Arrested in Kosovo". Balkan Insight. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  59. ^ "Косовская полиция арестовала албанского боевика". srpska.ru (in Russian). Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  60. ^ "Kosovo Media Highlights - UNMIK". United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. September 6, 2010.
  61. ^ "Kosovo Acquits Ex-Guerrilla of Attacking Macedonian Police". Balkan Insight (BIRN). July 28, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
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