The Vaksince Offensive was a military operation launched by the Macedonian army against Albanian insurgents belonging to the NLA, who killed two of its soldiers in an overnight ambush in the region. On 3 May 2001, Macedonian army helicopters and mortars opened fire on NLA positions near Vaksince after the NLA captured one Macedonian soldier in order to pressure the civilian population into leaving for an upcoming offensive. The Macedonian government accused the NLA of using the population as a human shield in order to stop the offensive.It was unclear if the villagers in Vaksince were forced to stay or if they stayed to support the NLA, in at least one village the civilians were used as human shields by the hardliners as NLA gunmen in the village vowed not to leave a chicken leave the village.The British ambassador severely criticized the actions of the NLA. In response to the shelling the NLA called for a ceasefire. The Macedonian soldier who was captured was later released.

Operation Vaksince Operation Vaksince was a military operation launched by the Macedonian security forces against Albanian insurgents belonging to the NLA, which was at the time launching a campaign of guerrilla attacks against facilities of the Macedonian Govern ...

would start on May 25th.

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