The government says the commandos were ambushed, near the northern border with Kosovo, shot in the head and then stabbed in the most deadly clash between government forces and insurgents since fighting flared in February. The rebels say they acted in self defence after being fired upon. Ethnic Albanians form up to a third of Macedonia's population of two million and there have been growing calls for changes to the constitution, which names the country's Slavs as the primary nation. The government claims the armed rebels are using violence to try to break up the country along ethnic lines. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed U.S. solidarity with Macedonia on Tuesday but warned against violence targeting ethnic Albanians.
Violence produces nothing but broken homes and casualties.
It is pure terrorism, and it must be eliminated. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.