Aračinovo crisis
| Aračinovo crisis | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia | |||||||||
Macedonian Army reservist T-55 tank crew at the Battle of Aračinovo | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| National Liberation Army | Macedonia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Xhezair Shaqiri Emrush Suma Nazmi Sulejmani Beqir Sadiku † Lefter Koxhaj |
Boris Trajkovski Vlado Bučkovski Pande Petrovski Ljube Boškoski Risto Galevski Stojanče Angelov (WIA) | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 100–170 militants |
Unknown Unknown MI-24 attack helicopters MI-17 and MI-8 helicopters 2 Su-25 fighter jets 54 T-55 tanks | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 6 militants killed | 3 police officers killed | ||||||||
The Aračinovo crisis was a series of events triggered by the occupation of the village of Aračinovo, in the outskirts of the Macedonian capital Skopje, by the insurgent National Liberation Army (NLA) in June 2001 and the consequent attempts by the Macedonian army (ARM) to retake the settlement. The Macedonian attack resulted in a standoff with NATO, whose troops evacuated the besieged rebels after a ceasefire accord. The crisis is considered to be the turning point in the Macedonian war of 2001, and one of its most controversial incidents.