Tearce attack

Tearce attack
Part of 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
Date 22 January 2001 Location Tearce, Macedonia Result NLA victory
Belligerents
National Liberation Army	Macedonia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Units involved
112th Brigade	Macedonian Police
Casualties and losses
None	1 policeman killed 3 injured

The Tearce attack was an attack carried out by the National Liberation Army on a Macedonian police station in Tearce, North Macedonia. This attack marked the beginning of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. As a result of the attack, one police officer was killed and three others were injured and the NLA captured Tearce.

Background

North Macedonia, located between Kosovo and Serbia, had largely evaded the prolonged conflicts that characterized Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s. Despite occasional tensions, relations between the ethnic Macedonian majority and Albanian minority had remained largely peaceful and the Macedonian government and parliament had been characterized by the inclusion of ethnic Albanian political parties. However, in early 2001, the National Liberation Army (NLA), an ethnic Albanian separatist militia, increased attacks on Macedonian security forces.

Attack

The attack took place on January 22, 2001, on a Monday at 2:00 AM in the village of Tearce, which is inhabited largely by ethnic Albanians. During the attack, three or four NLA militants armed with a Chinese rocket launcher and two Kalashnikovs attacked a Macedonian police station. The militants killed the police officer Momir Stojanovski in the attack, who was killed by the RPG grenade, while three other policemen were seriously injured. The injuries were believed to have been sustained from the two grenades fired at the station.

Aftermath

The NLA claimed responsibility for the attack. After the attack in Tearce, the village was held by the NLA. However, Macedonian police reported that the militants operated independently. Police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski reported, "These extreme radical individuals are not part of an organised group."

The attack in Tearce was the first attack in the conflict. The clashes directly led to the nine-month-long armed insurgency in Macedonia. Several days later, Albanians in the conflict areas were arrested and the NLA and Macedonian police engaged in an hour-long Battle in Tanuševci on the Kosovar-Macedonian border.