Tearce attack
{{Short description|2001 attack in Tearce}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Tearce attack
| width =
| partof = 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
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| date = 22 January 2001
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| result = NLA victory
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| combatants_header =
| combatant1 = File:Uck Nla logo.svg National Liberation Army
| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Macedonia}} Macedonia
| combatant3 =
| units1 = File:Uck Nla logo.svg 112th Brigade
| units2 = {{Coat of arms|Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia|text=Macedonian Police}}
| units3 =
| commander1 = File:Uck Nla logo.svg Unknown
| commander2 = {{Coat of arms|Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia|text=none}} Unknown
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| casualties1 = File:Uck Nla logo.svg None
| casualties2 = {{Coat of arms|Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia|text=none}} 1 policeman killedhttps://www.slobodenpecat.mk/en/angelov-na-20-godishninata-od-napadot-vrz-ps-vo-tearcze-da-ne-se-zaboravi-za-da-ne-ni-se-povtori/
{{Coat of arms|Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia|text=none}} 3 injured{{cite web | url=https://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/01/4/macedonianews4.html | title=CER | Macedonia: Destabilisation? }}
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| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia}}
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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.{{Cite book |last=Daskalovski |first=zidas |title=THE MACEDONIAN CONFLICT OF 2001: BETWEEN SUCCESSFUL DIPLOMACY, RHETORIC AND TERROR |pages=7}} As a result of the attack, one police officer was killed and three others were injured and the NLA captured Tearce.{{cite news |date=2001-10-25 |title=That's the police station, that was |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2001/10/25/thats-the-police-station-that-was}}
Attack
The attack took place on 22 January 2001, on a Monday at 2:00 AM in the village of Tearce, which is inhabited largely by ethnic Albanians.{{Cite web |last=Димовски |first=Сашко |date=2021-01-22 |title=Angelov on the 20th anniversary of the attack on PS in Tearce: Not to be forgotten so that it does not happen again |url=https://www.slobodenpecat.mk/en/angelov-na-20-godishninata-od-napadot-vrz-ps-vo-tearcze-da-ne-se-zaboravi-za-da-ne-ni-se-povtori/ |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Слободен печат |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Димовски |first=Зоран |date=2023-01-21 |title=22 years ago, the first victim of the military conflict fell in Tearce, marking the anniversary of the death of police officer Momir Stojanovski - Free Press |url=https://www.slobodenpecat.mk/en/pred-22-godini-vo-tearce-padna-prvata-zhrtva-od-voeniot-konflikt-odbelezhana-godishninata-od-zaginuvanjeto-na-policaecot-momir-stojanovski/ |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Слободен печат |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Naegele |first=Jolyon |date=2008-04-09 |title=2001 In Review: NATO 'Dodges A Bullet' In Macedonia, Southern Serbia |language=en |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1098266.html |access-date=2023-05-22}} The injuries were believed to have been sustained from the two grenades fired at the station.{{Cite web |last=Pritchard |first=Eleanor |date=2001-01-26 |title=News from Macedonia |url=https://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/01/4/macedonianews4.html |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Central Europe Review}}
Aftermath
The NLA claimed responsibility for the attack. After the attack in Tearce, the village was held by the NLA.{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/macedonia00john |title=Macedonia : warlords and rebels in the Balkans |date=2004 |publisher=New Haven, CT : Yale University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-300-10268-0}} 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."{{Cite web |last=Latifi |first=Veton |date=2001-02-14 |title=Skopje Dismisses KLA Bombing Link |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/skopje-dismisses-kla-bombing-link |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Institute for War and Peace Reporting |language=en}}
The attack in Tearce resulted in the beginning of the insurgency.{{cite web |title=20 Years On, Armed Conflict’s Legacy Endures in North Macedonia |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2021/01/22/20-years-on-armed-conflicts-legacy-endures-in-north-macedonia/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=22 January 2021}} It was designated as a terrorist attack by the Macedonian Ministry of Interior.{{cite book |title=White Book: Terrorism of the So-Called NLA |date=2001 |publisher=Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia |location=Skopje |page=109 |url=http://star.dnevnik.com.mk/whitebook/ |archive-date=5 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150305050513/http://star.dnevnik.com.mk/whitebook/|url-status=dead}}
References
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