SKOPJE, Macedonia
An armed group that police in northern Macedonia tackled at the weekend, resulting in at least 22 deaths, was planning terror attacks that would cause “serious destabilization,” the country’s president said on Sunday evening.
In a televised address, Gjorge Ivanov said: "Police have prevented coordinated terrorist attacks at different locations in the country that would cause serious destabilization, chaos and fear."
"The members of the group are extremists and criminals with remarkable military training and skills. That's why we have paid such a high price with the loss of lives."
Eight police officers and 14 militants were killed in clashes that began early Saturday when police intercepted an armed group near Kumanovo, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of capital Skopje.
Ivanov, who cut short a visit to Russia on Saturday, pledged that those involved would “pay dearly” and called for political unity in Macedonia, where the government and the opposition have been at loggerheads amid accusations that each is attempting to destabilize the country in a bid to secure power.
The president renewed his call for EU and NATO integration to provide stability in the former Yugoslav republic.
Following the end of the police operation on Sunday, Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski claimed the leaders of the armed group were from Kosovo and said around 30 Macedonians had been arrested and charged with terror-related offenses after surrendering.
He said some of the attackers wore uniforms of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought Serbian forces for Kosovan independence in the 1990s and launched an insurgency in Macedonia in 2001, demanding more rights for the country’s significant ethnic Albanian minority.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told reporters that more than 40 militants had planned to attack state institutions, sport events and shopping areas, claiming the group was made up of combat veterans with experience in the Balkans and Middle East.
He added that the group entered Macedonia at the beginning of May and based itself in western Kumanovo, where police found weapons.
Last month, a police station in Gosince, near Kumanovo, was attacked by a group of armed men who claimed to be members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
