Battle of Tetovo The Battle of Tetovo was the largest engagement during the 2001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia , in which Macedonian security forces battled Albanian insurgents of the National Liberation Army for control of the city . Prelude . Tetovo is a large city in Macedonia . Of the original population of 53 , 000 , 55 % were ethnic Albanians . In the aftermath of the Kosovo War , tensions between Macedonians and Albanians began to rise . With the formation of an insurgency , the National Liberation Front ( NLA ) began seizing territory in and around the Tetovo area . Skirmishes between the insurgency and government forces became commonplace in other portions of the country . The Macedonian forces , numbering more than 3 , 000 , held a limited amount of armour and artillery . Reportedly , they possessed a number of armoured personnel carriers , 105 mm and 122 mm Howitzers , ex - Bulgarian T - 55 tanks . The bulk of their force consisted of reservists at the brink of conflict . These numbers were to rapidly rise in the following months as the military expenditures of Macedonia quadrupled to almost 7 % of GDP which resulted in major purchases of military hardware mainly from Ukraine and Bulgaria . Also the mobilisation of special police forces like that of the Lions and Wolves unit . By the heighten period of the conflict the whole 1st mechanized brigade was stationed in and around Tetovo municipality . The NLA , on the other hand , had only an assortment of rockets , assault weapons , and mortars . A mainly guerilla force , however , they experienced the luxury of concealed positions in the mountains ringing the city . Weapons and supplies found their way from Kosovo to the frontlines over the Šar Mountains through horse caravans . Mounts Baltepe and Mount Kale were a major strong points , both of which held ancient fortresses left over from the Ottoman Empire . The rebels constructed a series of trench es and bunker s in defence . Opening phase . During the afternoon of 16 March , ethnic Albanians held a nationalist rally in town . Around this time , machine gun fire opened up on Macedonian police from Mount Baltepe . The NLA proceeded to engage with sniper fire and mortar attacks . The first bystander to be killed was an Albanian man , shot through the forehead as he got out of his car . Fifteen Macedonian police and a NATO German soldier were also wounded when joint barracks in the outskirts of the town where hit by mortar fire . The next day , the German Ministry of Defence moved in two Leopard II tanks from Prizren , in Kosovo , in order to protect the base . Half of the 1 , 200 German troops were evacuated to another location eight kilometers away . By 20 March , another 400 KFOR German combat troops equipped with Marder armoured vehicles and more Leopard II tanks had been deployed in Tetovo . Civilians continued on with their daily business , but the streets became empty . Cafes and shops were deserted and electricity was cut off to part of the town . For the cafes that remained open , it was common to see some people taking the risk of watching gun battles . On 21 March , the two sides witnessed a brief cease fire . The day was quiet without a single shot . By this point in time , however , thousands of residents had fled the city . Those whom remained pressed on with life as best as they could while both factions licked their wounds . It was also on this day that the Macedonian army scaled Kale Hill under cover of artillery and gunfire . On 22 March , after two months of sporadic violence , two Albanians were gunned down near the football stadium in the eastern districts . The two men approached a Macedonian checkpoint in a white car , only to be shot as they tried to throw grenades . Images of the dead men became famous , marking the insurgency ' s first " martyrs " and bringing Macedonia ' s violence to the world spotlight . The Macedonians proceeded to beef up their security forces and deployed tanks in support . In Tetovo ’ s old town , a sandbag checkpoint near the Church of St . Nicholas suffered frequent shelling from houses in the highlands . Over the next few days , several skirmishes broke out throughout the hills . A Macedonian Mi - 17 helicopter crashed while ferrying police forces to a ski resort on the outskirts of town , killing the pilot and wounding 16 policemen . Most the rebels held out on Baltepe Mountain . From the Koltak district , Macedonian forces poured fire onto Albanian positions . This was often returned with machine gun , sniper , and mortar fire . A series of blasts was clearly visible in the hills above Tetovo as terrified residents scurried for cover below . The hills had been occupied by Albanian guerrilla forces for the past week . The Macedonian army was firing indiscriminately and several of the rising columns of smoke came from civilian houses . There was no word on casualties , but the risk to civilians was high . The hills around Tetovo are dotted with houses and it was not clear if they had all been evacuated . The NLA stood their ground . A short time after the start of the Government offensive , the Macedonian army issued an ultimatum , giving the NLA 24 hours to cease hostilities and surrender , or leave Macedonia . After the deadline , Macedonian security forces continued using all their means against positions of the rebels . The Macedonian onslaught began just hours after the rebels offered to join peace talks . Second phase . On the 24th , the Macedonians used ex - Ukrainian Mi - 24 helicopters for the first time in the conflict , responding to Albanian mortar fire that wounded twenty civilians in the Koltuk area . With the addition of these new helicopters , 300 Macedonian infantry launched a massive offensive around Mount Šar . As rockets and artillery pounded Albanian positions on Mount Sar Planina southwest of the city , airborne troops were dropped on the slopes . The Mi - 24 ' s strafed what remained after the initial barrage . The situation began to dwindle for the NLA , as they chose to fire indiscriminately back into the city . On 6 June another cease - fire was initiated , which lasted eighteen days . Just before noon on 22 July , machine gun and small arms fire shattered the silence once again . As U . S . and European envoys met with President Boris Trajkovski in Skopje on 23 July , the battle reached Tetovo ’ s suburbs . In the Drenovac district , rebels and government forces fought heavily for the town ’ s sports stadium . The fall of the stadium left the rebels within fifty yards of the city center . Residents of the areas were instructed to leave their homes by Macedonian forces . A twelve - year - old girl was killed in a mortar blast . Thirteen civilians and five government soldiers were injured . Macedonian government forces also shelled villages surrounding Tetovo , which were under control of Albanian rebels . Final phase . The Ohrid peace negotiations finally came into play on 8 August . By then , Tetovo was practically a ghost city , most of its residents having fled the fighting . Ten Macedonian soldiers were killed when Albanian rebels ambushed a convoy on a road leading from Tetovo to Skopje . The gun battle was carried out in the supposed retaliation for the deaths of five ethnic Albanians . Macedonian residents protested overnight the deaths of the soldiers , looting ethnic Albanian shops in the process . The next day , Macedonians retaliated with the pounding of Albanian positions with artillery . The next day , the rebels attacked Macedonian army barracks in central Tetovo , sending black plumes of smoke above the northern and southwestern suburbs . Part of the barracks and an armored personnel carrier were set on fire in the fighting . The Macedonian National Security Council , in response , authorized another offensive against the NLA . Macedonian forces concentrated their attack around the suburb of Teqe , of which a graveyard separated both factions . End game . On 13 August , Macedonian and Albanian representatives signed the Ohrid Agreement , ending most of the fighting . Over the next few months , NATO and Macedonian troops worked to disarm the NLA , which ceded power after the thirty - day Operation Essential Harvest . As a result of the fighting , the Red Cross estimated that 76 , 000 people fled their homes . Though the major violence ended on the 13th , skirmishes and harassment remained common throughout the Tetovo area . During the week of 24 August , violence sprouted between resistance fighters and Macedonian police in villages and police checkpoints . Locals reported receiving phone calls and threats of violence on both sides . But Macedonians felt the biggest brunt of this sort of tactic , due to the population density in the city . On 12 November , three Macedonian police officers were ambushed and killed in the village of Trebos . The NLA suffered many casualties , but no concrete number is known .