We were supposed to go up the hill. For several days the army has been using houses owned by Macedonian civilians to hide its own snipers on upstairs floors facing the hillside. In their panic the soldiers thought an Albanian sniper may have opened up on them from a nearby house, although it seemed more likely the shooting had come from the hills. Officially the army has around 15,000 men - including some 1,400 reservists called up last week. They include 350 special forces known as the Wolves.
Some officers have genuine experience.
The captain of the cowering platoon had served for 20 years, including two in action with the Yugoslav army against Croatia in the early 1990s. The government can also call on 350 special police and 450 gendarmes trained in riot control and paramilitary operations. Two Ukrainian-supplied helicopter gunships arrived in Macedonia on Friday and were promptly pressed into action at the weekend, firing rockets at guerrilla targets in the hills. Two transport helicopters from Ukraine also flew in and two more are on their way. Before their arrival, the Macedonian air force had one helicopter left in service.