A police officer helps an elderly woman as she is evacuated from the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo on May 10, 2015, during clashes with unidentified gunmen. (AFP)
Skopje:
Special police units pulled out of the northern Macedonian town early Monday where 22 people, including eight officers, were killed over the weekend in worst violence in the country since its 2001 inter-ethnic conflict.
The violence in Kumanovo, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Skopje, raised concerns about possible ethnic-Albanian unrest in the volatile Balkan region as NATO and the European Union called for a return to calm in Macedonia.
The night was peaceful in the town where two-day police operation ended Sunday, local media reported, adding that dozens of people who had fled from their homes had started to return.
The shooting erupted on Saturday at dawn when police moved in on the armed group. Eight officers killed and 37 injured, while 14 bodies were also found at the site, a police spokesman said.
"Terrorist planned mass killings in Macedonia" and "Macedonia pushed on the edge" said the front pages of newspapers in the capital Skopje Monday.
The Nova Makedonija daily published photos of the eight killed police officers with their names and years of birth. "Rest in peace" read the caption.
The gunmen were from "a particularly dangerous terrorist group" whose members included people sought on international arrest warrants, according to police.
The group was made up of over 30 people, mostly Macedonian citizens and five presumed ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, supposedly the group leaders, and one from Albania, police said.
Ethnic Albanians make up around one quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population.
The authorities said some 20 gunmen who surrendered Saturday were brought to a Skopje court as an investigation opened into the fighting.
Macedonia proclaimed two days of national mourning on Sunday.
The 2001 Macedonian conflict with ethnic Albanian rebels ended with an agreement providing more rights to the minority community. However, relations between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians remain strained.
The violence in Kumanovo erupted as Macedonia has been embroiled in a deep political crisis, where the government and centre-left opposition have been trading accusations including claims of wiretapping, murder and million-euro bribes.
The crisis has undermined Macedonia's already weak institutions, and also sparked concerns within the 28-nation EU that Skopje hopes to join.
The violence in Kumanovo, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Skopje, raised concerns about possible ethnic-Albanian unrest in the volatile Balkan region as NATO and the European Union called for a return to calm in Macedonia.
The night was peaceful in the town where two-day police operation ended Sunday, local media reported, adding that dozens of people who had fled from their homes had started to return.
The shooting erupted on Saturday at dawn when police moved in on the armed group. Eight officers killed and 37 injured, while 14 bodies were also found at the site, a police spokesman said.
"Terrorist planned mass killings in Macedonia" and "Macedonia pushed on the edge" said the front pages of newspapers in the capital Skopje Monday.
The Nova Makedonija daily published photos of the eight killed police officers with their names and years of birth. "Rest in peace" read the caption.
The gunmen were from "a particularly dangerous terrorist group" whose members included people sought on international arrest warrants, according to police.
The group was made up of over 30 people, mostly Macedonian citizens and five presumed ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, supposedly the group leaders, and one from Albania, police said.
Ethnic Albanians make up around one quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population.
The authorities said some 20 gunmen who surrendered Saturday were brought to a Skopje court as an investigation opened into the fighting.
Macedonia proclaimed two days of national mourning on Sunday.
The 2001 Macedonian conflict with ethnic Albanian rebels ended with an agreement providing more rights to the minority community. However, relations between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians remain strained.
The violence in Kumanovo erupted as Macedonia has been embroiled in a deep political crisis, where the government and centre-left opposition have been trading accusations including claims of wiretapping, murder and million-euro bribes.
The crisis has undermined Macedonia's already weak institutions, and also sparked concerns within the 28-nation EU that Skopje hopes to join.
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