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The following press release is from the U.S. Department of Defense on the shooting between American troops and Albanian rebels in Kosovo and Macedonia in March 2001.
Other links are at the bottom of this page.
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The following press release is from the U.S. Department of Defense on the shooting between American troops and Albanian rebels in Kosovo and Macedonia in March 2001.
Other links are at the bottom of this page.
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2001 -- U.S. troops traded fire today
with gunmen near the border town of Mijak, Kosovo, and
wounded two, DoD officials said. No American soldiers were
hurt in the exchange.
A group of U.S. soldiers responded with small-arms fire to
threatening maneuvers by four armed men, DoD officials
said. Three men were captured and one escaped.
About 150 U.S. soldiers on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo are
patrolling the Serbian province's border with the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for Albanian guerrilla
forces seeking to destabilize the region, DoD officials
said.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley had told
reporters in an afternoon briefing March 6 that American
troops had moved closer to the Kosovo-FYROM border and
"increased their visibility, increased the activity of
their surveillance patrols along the border there, all with
the goal of trying to restore a sense of calm and to stop
the actions by the extremists."
The area has experienced week-long violence. Insurgents
killed three Macedonian soldiers in border fighting over
the weekend, according to press reports. Officials noted
that ethnic Albanians comprise about a quarter of
Macedonia's 2 million population and some 90 percent of
Kosovo's.
U.N. peacekeeping forces have been stationed in the Kosovo
region for the past few years. FYROM officials asked NATO
to help quell the unrest, which has been occurring in a
rugged, mountainous area.
"It is not a 'tight' border by anyone's description,"
Quigley said. U.S. forces would remain on the Kosovo side,
he said. American forces have arrested some insurgents and
uncovered arms caches in recent days, according to news
reports.
Related Site of Interest:
DOD News Briefing, March 6, 2001--Scroll down about two-thirds of this page to find information on the Kosovo border.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2001/n03072001_200103073.html
Macedonia Rebel's Agenda--BBC news analysis.
Lee, R. "The History Guy: Kosovo News"
http://www.historyguy.com/kosovo_news_030701.htm (2000).
Copyright © 2001 Roger A. Lee; Last Modified:
06/06/01