Word: macedonians
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...deadline set by the Macedonian government for Albanian separatists to lay down their arms expired at midday Thursday, and yet there's been no sign of government forces preparing for the promised offensive to "eliminate" the rebels. Why is the government hesitating...
MACEDONIA Albanian Insurgents Provoke Strong Backlash The risk of renewed ethnic war drew closer when 10 members of the Macedonian security forces were killed in an ambush by Albanian extremists. The assaults triggered retaliatory strikes by government forces, who attacked several Albanian villages with helicopter gunships and artillery. Masked ethnic Macedonian civilians, outraged at the rebel ambush, rampaged through Albanian communities smashing shop windows and beating residents - the first time civilians took to the streets since violence first erupted a month ago. The rebels say they are fighting for Albanian rights but have yet to distinguish their claims from those...
...momentum of its own, and purely political and diplomatic measures can't stop it. Now that the mainstream Albanian parties have joined the government, the only way for the NLA to remain relevant is to continue to mount attacks. So while a unity government would mean the Macedonian state will survive, the situation on the ground is probably going to get worse despite the political breakthrough...
...MACEDONIA Collateral Damage Macedonian forces continued pounding ethnic Albanian rebels near the border with Kosovo as fighting spilled into the neighboring province, where a stray shell killed three civilians. nato ordered an urgent probe into the incident, at the ethnic Albanian hamlet of Krivenik, while 400 British troops were deployed in the region and pressure mounted for a halt to hostilities...
...could backfire. Arben Xhaferi, who is Macedonia's top Albanian politician and best hope for peaceful reform, is already growing snappish. He hasn't spoken to his Slav colleagues in weeks. And if any Albanian civilians are killed, he told TIME, he will leave the government entirely. That means Macedonian forces face the near impossible task of holding collateral damage to zero...