The Peshkëpi incident was the killing of 2 Albanian army officers on 10 April 1994 at 02:40 AM. Eight men, later identified as members of the
Northern Epirus Liberation Front, a Greek nationalist paramilitary organization,
[U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE; 1995 APRIL: PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, 1994](_blank)
/ref> were involved in an attack on an Albanian army barracks in Peshkëpi, Dropull
Dropull ( sq-definite, Dropulli; ''Dropoli'' or ''Deropoli'') is a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek–Albanian border, along the Drino river. The reg ...
, Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
in April 1994. Two Albanian border soldiers were killed while sleeping; three were wounded.
Background
From the mid-1980s, an ethnic Greek paramilitary organization named "Northern Epirus Liberation Front" (MAVI), after the Northern Epirote World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
organization, accused the Albanian Government of violating the rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania and berated Greece for not doing enough to support the minority. MAVI also called for an "armed struggle" against Albania. A 1983 bombing of the Albanian Embassy in Athens was claimed in its name.
On 10 April 1994, several gunmen crossed into Albania from Greece and stormed a border guard facility in the village of Peshkëpi, killing two soldiers and seriously wounding three others before returning across the Greek border.
Aftermath
Albanian authorities alleged that the perpetrators were dressed in Greek military uniforms and were speaking Greek. In Greece, the Northern Epirus Liberation Front (MAVI) claimed responsibility both the next day and some months later. Stohos, a Greek nationalist weekly newspaper, regularly reported in a proud way about the incident. On the other hand, the Greek government flatly denied any responsibility in the event and, in the first couple of days, even excluded the possibility that any Greeks could have been involved in the incident. The Albanian government responded by arresting five member of the organization Omonoia.
In response to this arrest the Greek government expelled a high number (that goes from 70,000 to 125,000) of Albanians emigrants from Greece.
Victims
Two Albanian soldiers were killed in their sleep, while 3 others were injured:
See also
* Fredis Beleris
References
Sources
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090316025705/http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/ghm-greeks-albanians.PDF
*http://b-info.com/places/Bulgaria/news/94-05/may13.gr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peshkepi killing
Greek separatism
1994 murders in Europe
Deaths by firearm in Albania
People murdered in Albania
Attacks on military installations in 1994
Attacks in Europe in the 1990s
1994 in Albania
1994 crimes in Albania
1990s murders in Albania
April 1994 in Europe
Attacks on barracks