After the Tanuševci operation, a Macedonian police convoy was sent to establish presence near the border to Kosovo and to try to prevent an Albanian insurgency by the NLA from taking hold in the area, but found itself trapped in an ambush by the NLA.[12] According to Macedonian police estimates, there were around 30 insurgents.[5] Immediately after the ambush an hour-long battle involving artillery and heavy mortars erupted, after which most of the Macedonian convoy managed to escape.[12][6] The fighting left one dead from the Macedonian Security forces.[5][9][13] After the firefight the NLA established control in Molino and Brest and the insurgency spread to wider parts of the country.[14][15]
Aftermath
While the Macedonian convoy was able to break through the ambush, they were forced to seal off the village.[16][9] The NLA took control of Molino and Brest, and the insurgency spread to wider parts in Macedonia[12][8][9][5]
According to the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the main motive behind the attack by the NLA was their resentment over the Ministry's establishment of cooperation with the local population, among whom there were those who volunteered to work in the planned reserve police stations.[5]
References
^Phillips, John (2004). Macedonia : warlords and rebels in the Balkans. Internet Archive. New Haven, CT : Yale University Press. p. 10. ISBN978-0-300-10268-0. The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units
^Gall, Carlotta (2001-03-10). "Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-02. Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest.
^Phillips, John (2004). Macedonia : warlords and rebels in the Balkans. Internet Archive. New Haven, CT : Yale University Press. p. 10. ISBN978-0-300-10268-0. The rebels had seized the villages of Brest and Malina Mahala in fierce fighting with elite Macedonian 'Wolves' special forces units
^Gall, Carlotta (2001-03-10). "Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-02. Rebels abandoned the village of Tanusevci ahead of the operation by American troops on Wednesday night, but they moved into the nearby villages of Molino and Brest.
^"Rebel Ambush Traps Macedonian Police and 2 Officials". The New York Times. 10 March 2001. Retrieved 20 November 2022. Later today, Macedonian police officers in flak jackets and helmets barred the narrow mountain road that winds up to the villages of Brest and Gusince. The shooting had quieted down about dawn, they said, but the convoy had not moved for fear of mines on the unpaved road.