View source for Brest attack

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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Brest attack
| place             = [[Brest, Čučer-Sandevo]], [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]]
| date              = 9 March 2001
| combatant1        = {{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} [[National Liberation Army (Macedonia)|National Liberation Army]]
| combatant2        = {{flag|Macedonia}}
| result            = NLA victory
| commander1        = {{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} [[Xhezair Shaqiri]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Macedonia: Rebels: Ethnic Albanian rebel forces near the border |url=https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=985da7aa887d3f9463ac8258db95e463&mediatype=video |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=newsroom.ap.org}}</ref><br>{{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} [[Nazmi Sulejmani]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xhezair Shaqiri: Komandant Arusha luftoi në betejat më të vështira të UÇK-së në Brezë, Mateç dhe Haraçinë! |url=https://www.botasot.info/maqedonia/828882/xhezair-shaqiri-komandant-arusha-luftoi-ne-betejat-me-te-veshtira-te-uck-se-ne-breze-matec-dhe-haracine/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Bota Sot |language=en}}</ref>
| commander2        = {{flagicon image|Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png|border=|size=22px}} [[Ljube Boškoski]]<ref name="star" /><br>{{flagicon image|Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png|border=|size=22px}} [[Refet Elmazi]]<ref name=":0" /><br>{{flagicon image|Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png|border=|size=22px}}  [[Aleksandar Dončev]]<ref name="star" />
| strength1         = {{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} 30+ militants (police estimate)<ref name="star" />
| strength2         = {{Flagicon image|MVR PEP logo.png|border=|size=22px}} 100 policemen<ref name="CNN" />
| units1            = {{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} 113th Brigade "Ismet Jashari"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xhezair Shaqiri: Komandant Arusha luftoi në betejat më të vështira të UÇK-së në Brezë, Mateç dhe Haraçinë! |url=https://www.botasot.info/maqedonia/828882/xhezair-shaqiri-komandant-arusha-luftoi-ne-betejat-me-te-veshtira-te-uck-se-ne-breze-matec-dhe-haracine/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Bota Sot |language=en}}</ref>
| units2            = {{tree list}} 
* {{flagicon image|Coat of arms of the Macedonian Police.png|border=|size=22px}} [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (North Macedonia)|Ministry of Interior]]<ref name=":0" />
** {{Coat of arms|Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia|text=none}} [[Macedonian Police]]
** {{Flagicon image|MVR PEP logo.png|border=|size=22px}} [[Special Support Unit]]<ref name="star" />
*[[File:Logo of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia.svg|22px]] [[Army of the Republic of North Macedonia|Macedonian Army]]
**[[File:Полк_за_специјални_опрации.svg|22px]] [[Special Operations Regiment (North Macedonia)|Special Operations Regiment]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bWKDwAAQBAJ&q=warlords+macedonia |title=Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans |date=2004-06-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85771-451-0 |pages=10 |language=en |quote=The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian ‘Wolves’ special forces units10 after US airborne peacekeepers on 7 March had flushed the insurgents out of Tanusevci, a village on the border with Kosovo.}}</ref> {{tree list/end}}
| casualties1       = {{Flagicon image|Uck Nla logo.svg|border=|size=22px}} 1 militant killed<ref name=":0" />
| casualties2       = {{Flagicon image|MVR PEP logo.png|border=|size=22px}} 1 policemen killed<ref name="CN" /><ref name="star" /><ref>{{cite news |title=G.I.'s Join Macedonians in Fight Against Albanian Rebels |work=The New York Times |date=9 March 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/09/world/gi-s-join-macedonians-in-fight-against-albanian-rebels.html |access-date=3 September 2022 |last1=Gall |first1=Carlotta}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
| partof            = the [[2001 insurgency in Macedonia]]
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Insurgencies in North Macedonia}}
| territory         = NLA captures Molino and Brest<ref>{{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 |pages=10 |quote=The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |date=2001-03-10 |title=Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/world/rebel-ambush-traps-macedonian-police-and-2-officials.html |access-date=2024-02-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest.}}</ref>
}}

The National Liberation Army (NLA) committed an attack near the village of Brest on 9 March 2001 during the insurgency in Macedonia.<ref name="CN" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=9 March 2001 |title=Macedonian convoy escapes ambush |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1211511.stm |access-date=20 November 2022 |website=BBC}}</ref> The NLA ambushed a Macedonian convoy, after they were defeated and forced to withdraw by [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]] troops in the village of [[Tanuševci]].

== Attack ==
After the [[Tanuševci operation]], a Macedonian police convoy was sent to establish presence near the border to Kosovo and to try to prevent an Albanian insurgency by the NLA from taking hold in the area, but found itself trapped in an ambush by the NLA in 9 March.<ref name="nyt">{{Cite news |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |date=2001-03-10 |title=Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/world/rebel-ambush-traps-macedonian-police-and-2-officials.html |access-date=2023-07-08 |issn=0362-4331 |quote=claimed the lives of four members of the Macedonian security forces.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Vasiliki P. Neofotistos |title=The Risk of War: Everyday Sociality in the Republic of Macedonia |date=2012 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=9780812206562 |page=44}}</ref> The officials trapped were deputy interior minister Refet Elmazi, state secretary of the ministry of internal affairs Ljube Boškoski and Macedonian police general Aleksandar Dončev. According to Macedonian police estimates, there were around 30 insurgents.<ref name="star" /> Immediately after the ambush an hour-long battle involving artillery and heavy mortars erupted, after which most of the Macedonian convoy managed to escape.<ref name="nyt" /><ref name=":0" /> The fighting left one dead from the Macedonian security forces.<ref name="star" /><ref name="CN" /><ref>{{cite news |title=G.I.'s Join Macedonians in Fight Against Albanian Rebels |work=The New York Times |date=9 March 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/09/world/gi-s-join-macedonians-in-fight-against-albanian-rebels.html |access-date=3 September 2022 |last1=Gall |first1=Carlotta}}</ref> After the firefight the NLA established control in Molino and Brest and the insurgency spread to wider parts of the country.<ref>{{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 |pages=10 |quote=The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |date=2001-03-10 |title=Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/world/rebel-ambush-traps-macedonian-police-and-2-officials.html |access-date=2024-02-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest.}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
While the Macedonian convoy was able to break through the ambush, they were forced to seal off the village.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 March 2001 |title=Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/world/rebel-ambush-traps-macedonian-police-and-2-officials.html |access-date=20 November 2022 |website=The New York Times |quote=Later today, Macedonian police officers in flak jackets and helmets barred the narrow mountain road that winds up to the villages of Brest and Gusince. The shooting had quieted down about dawn, they said, but the convoy had not moved for fear of mines on the unpaved road.}}</ref><ref name="CN">{{cite web |date=9 March 2001 |title=Ethnic Albanian Extremists Ambush Macedonian Vehicle, Killing Policeman |url=http://en.people.cn/english/200103/09/print20010309_64559.html |access-date=4 January 2023 |website=[[People's Daily]] |quote=Police have sent reinforcement to the area and managed to evacuate the convoy. The area has also been sealed off, the source said.}}</ref> The NLA took control of Molino and Brest, and the insurgency spread to wider parts in Macedonia.<ref name="nyt" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web |title=Ceasefire hopes for Kosovo borders |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/03/10/macedonia.fighting/ |access-date=20 November 2022 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref name="CN" /><ref name="star" />

According to the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the main motive behind the attack by the NLA was their resentment over the Ministry's establishment of cooperation with the local population, among whom there were those who volunteered to work in the planned reserve police stations.<ref name="star">{{cite web |last=Kolevska |first=S. |date=10 March 2001 |title=Полициски конвој 20 часа во терористички обрач во Брест, загина полицаец |trans-title=Полициски конвој 20 часа во терористички обрач во Брест, загина полицаец |url=http://star.vest.com.mk/default.asp?id=2558&idg=1&idb=203&rubrika=Makedonija |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194110/http://star.vest.com.mk/default.asp?id=2558&idg=1&idb=203&rubrika=Makedonija |archive-date=2016-03-04 |accessdate=2015-01-28 |publisher=Вест |language=mk}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Ambushes of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia]]
[[Category:March 2001 in Europe]]
[[Category:Čučer-Sandevo Municipality]]
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