Macedonia Marks Karpalak Ambush Massacre Anniversary

The commemoration in Karpalak. Photo: MIA

A government and army delegation, along with the victims’ relatives, laid wreaths on Monday at the site of the massacre, in the area known as Karpalak on the highway that leads from the capital Skopje to the north-western town of Tetovo.

Ten army reservists lost their lives there in 2001 when their convoy was ambushed by Albanian guerrilla fighters.

The soldiers, all from the central Macedonian town of Prilep, died when their army truck was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Jordan Trajkoski from the Association of Retired Reservist Army Soldiers said he was disappointed that no proper memorial has yet been built at the site. A small plaque currently exists at the site but no monument.

“Even 15 years afterwards, our authorities have done nothing for the memorialisation and preservation [of the site], as well as for the rights of the veterans of the conflict. Even a small memorial built at this spot would have sufficed,” Trajkoski told media.

Over the years, there have been several attempts to place a memorial plaque at the place, but shortly after the ceremonies, the plaques have been destroyed by unknown assailants.

The attack in Karpalak took place just four days before the signing of the internationally-brokered Ohrid Framework Accord that ended the short-lived 2001 armed conflict.

The troops were killed as political party leaders and the then president, the late Boris Trajkovski, were agreeing on the final details of the accord.

The massacre breached an already-reached general ceasefire agreement, shocking the public and threatening to undermine efforts for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In the wake of the massacre, outraged residents of Prilep demolished several Albanian shops in the town and torched the central mosque.

The tragedy was also commemorated at the army base in Prilep, as well in the town itself.

“On August 8, part of our unit headed towards Tetovo right from this place. But unfortunately, it was intercepted at Karpalak by a group of terrorists who attacked them. Most of the [army] convoy pulled out but ten people died,” said Major Slavco Kuzmanovski at the ceremony in Prilep.

The short but violent conflict in 2001 saw the now-disbanded insurgent force, the National Liberation Army, NLA, clash with Macedonian security forces.

The clashes ended the same year with the signing of a peace accord that gave more rights to Albanians, who make up a quarter of the population.

The conflict claimed the lives of 68 Macedonian soldiers and police officers, many of whom died in ambushes similar to that in Karpalak. The number of insurgent fighters killed remains unconfirmed.

With the signing of the peace accord, the ex-fighters were granted an amnesty.

Shortly afterwards, their leaders formed the junior ruling Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, which has since become the most popular ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia.