Lipkovo crisis

Lipkovo crisis
Part of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
Date28 March–18 June 2001
Location
Lipkovo, Macedonia
Result NLA victory
Belligerents
National Liberation Army  Macedonia
Commanders and leaders
Abedin Zimberi [mk][1]
Nazmi Sulejmani
Lefter Koxhaj
Avdil Jakupi
Xhezair Shaqiri		 Boris Trajkovski
Ljubčo Georgievski
Army of the Republic of Macedonia Pande Petrovski
Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia Ljube Boškoski
Units involved
113th Brigade "Ismet Jashari"
Skanderbeg special unit		 Army of the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Army
Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Police
"Tigar" Special Police Unit
Casualties and losses
12 killed[2] Army of the Republic of Macedonia 13 soldiers killed[2]
Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia 7 policemen killed[2]
2 Border Policemen captured (later realised unharmed)[3]
Albania 3 ethnic Albanian civilians killed
10,000 Albanian civilians displaced[4]

The Lipkovo crisis (Macedonian: Липковска криза, Albanian: Kriza e Likovës) was a crisis involving Macedonian security forces and Albanian insurgents from the National Liberation Army (NLA).[5][6][7] During the crisis, the NLA captured the Lipkovo dam, which caused a 12-day-long water crisis for the neighboring town of Kumanova.[5][8] On 18 June 2001, the NLA agreed to let the International Red Cross and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) restart the water supply systems.[9] Macedonian military operations were halted to allow inspectors to access and repair the pumps.[7]

  1. ^ https://m.mkd.mk/node/338181
  2. ^ a b c "Macedonia resumes offensive against rebels - the Republic of North Macedonia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. May 4, 2001.
  3. ^ Krushelnycky, Askold (2008-04-09). "Macedonia: Army Launches Fresh Attack On Rebels". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  4. ^ "Убиен Фадил Лимани, командант на терористите за Куманово". Вест. 2001-05-28. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02.
  5. ^ a b Dhimgjoka, Merita (2001-06-12). "Macedonia, Rebels Halt Fighting". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ Phillips, John (2004-01-01). Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10268-0.
  7. ^ a b "Macedonia: Army Suspends Operations In Kumanovo-Lipkovo". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  8. ^ "Macedonian government launches new attack on rebels". The Guardian. 2001-06-11. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  9. ^ "Macedonia - Security: Humanitarian catastrophe averted in Kumanovo and Lipkovo - the Republic of North Macedonia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2001-06-18. Retrieved 2023-10-18.