The Albanian National Army (ANA; sq, Armata Kombëtare Shqiptare, AKSh), is an Albanian paramilitary organization which operates in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. The group opposes the Ohrid Framework Agreement which ended the

2001 insurgency in Macedonia The 2001 insurgency in Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) militant group, formed from veterans of the Kosovo War and Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, attacked Macedonian Arm ...

between members of the National Liberation Army and

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...

security forces.

History

It was formed in 2001 in Macedonia. The organization is associated with FBKSh (National Front for Reunification of Albanians), its political wing. The ANA appeared in Kosovo in 2003, where on March 7, two members trying to detonate a bomb were shot and killed by Serbian police. In 2007, a video was aired by Kosovar television stations depicting a band of medium-armed, masked individuals intercepting cars. In October 2007 the unit declared it would seize the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

exclave of

North Kosovo North Kosovo ( sr, Северно Косово, Severno Kosovo; sq, Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin ( sr, Ибарски Колашин, Ibarski Kolašin; sq, Koloshini i Ibrit or ''Kollashini i Ibrit''; earlier ''Old Kolašin ...

by force if the Kosovo Protection Force did not occupy it by November 1, 2007. The ANA has claimed that it is patrolling North Kosovo to prevent incursions by the Czar Lazar Guard. In early November 2007, insurgents of the "Political Advisory Body of the Kosovo Liberation Army" suffered a minor crackdown, dubbed Operation Mountain Storm by the Macedonian armed forces in north-western Macedonia. According to Macedonian authorities; six members of the KLA were killed. On November 13, 2007, a video was aired to the public, an exclusive interview with a leader of the ANA patrolling in the covert areas of North Kosovo, recruiting 20 new men. The leader stated that ANA stands at 12,000 men altogether and has called the Kosovar population for a boycott of then- forthcoming elections. The ANA had committed an attack on April 29, 2010, on the border between Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia, in which a Macedonian policeman was killed. In the skirmish, one ANA fighter was injured. In the year of 2015 the group has been removed from the list of terrorist groups. Despite this, in 2016 Albanian militiamen presenting themselves as the "21st Brigade" published a video showing their weapons and threatening to move through northern Albania and the Presevo Valley. They also mentioned that they had the support of the population and that they had hundreds of men.

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Status of Albanian National Army (Taken Question)
{{Inter-ethnic clashes in the Republic of Macedonia 2001 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia 2001 insurgency in Macedonia Albanian irredentism Albanian militant groups Albanian nationalism in Kosovo Albanian nationalism in Serbia Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia Albanian separatism Nationalist terrorism in Europe Organizations established in 2001 Paramilitary organizations in the Yugoslav Wars Secessionist organizations in Europe Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List

History

See also

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References

External links