Exactly one month since the bloody conflict between the police and the terrorist group in Kumanovo Divo naselje, in which eight members of the special forces of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) were killed and 37 were wounded, is marked today.
Four weeks ago, Macedonia suffered a collective shock of which is still recovering, due to the seriousness of the threat that the fact that there are still many unanswered questions, contradictions and speculation.
The public is still suffering from the mystery and awaits the relevant institutions to respond to the question of what exactly happened in Kumanovo.
MOI stated for META that the investigation for Kumanovo was ongoing, and we witness video recordings, audio recordings and texts indicating that there is a possibility people from the security structures to have been involved in the action appear almost every day in public
After the fighting ended on 10th of May, Ministry of Interior issued statements and press releases that “one of the most dangerous terrorist groups on the Balkans,” which was planning attacks on state institutions, was liquidated and published video footages of the action in the next few days, after which, silence followed.
Also, immediately after the action, Public Prosecution said it began an investigation, but it informed on the contradictions that arose in the meantime and about some important details on the initiative and the questions raised by the media.
Officially known and announced
(from relevant institutions regarding the action in Kumanovo, as well as the attack on Goshince sentry, as a sort of prelude to the events in Divo naselje)
- Eight members of the special police units killed and 37 injured;
- The criminal-terrorist group had forty members;
- In firefights with the police, 10 members of the group were killed (this figure, which was announced by the Prosecution is contradictory to that which MOI announced, according to which, the lifeless bodies of 14 terrorists were found in Divo naselje) ;
- After the fighting, 28 terrorists surrendered to the police;
- As leaders of the group were identified Muhamed Krasniqi, so-called commander Malisheva, Mirsad Ndrecaj, so-called commander Nato, Sami Ukshini, so-called commander Sokoli, Beg Rizaj, alias commander Begu, and Deme Shehu, alias Juniku;
- The group was followed by security services for several months;
- The same group was responsible for the attack on Goshince sentry on 21st of April;
- The group was planning attacks on state and civilian targets;
- In the outskirts of village Brest, in a bunker in an open space was found stolen weapons from Goshince sentry (the location was indicated by one of those arrested in the action in Kumanovo, who, according to media information, managed to escape the police, but the competent neither confirmed nor denied the information;
- In an interview on the show “Road to …” at “Alsat-M,” DUI leader Ali Ahmeti said that he participated in the negotiations for the surrender of the group;
- One of the arrested along with the terrorist group was an employee of the Ministry of Interior (competent confirmed this information on questions raised by the media);
- Counter-intelligence Agency informs that early warning was made on the cases in Goshince and Kumanovo regarding the intentions of the leaders of the terrorist structure, their capacities, logistics bases, course of action by the enemy within its competences, in accordance with the Law on Counter-intelligence Agency.
Speculations
(concerning the background of Kumanovo developments that partly proved to be true, but a part of it is still causing controversy in the public, as well as responses on the part of security services.)
- Members of the Macedonian secret services contacted the members of the group months before the events of 9th and 10th of May;
- Kosovo Intelligence Agency had informed President Atifete Jahjaga and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa about the possibility of an incident in Kumanovo;
- Names of Macedonian politicians, agents and officials involved in the incident in Kumanovo were mentioned;
- Through wiretapped conversations, Kosovo Police revealed that the group from Kumanovo was planning an attack on Kosovo prison in Podujevo and the release of two notorious criminals;
- The fighting in Kumanovo were an agreed scenario behind which stood a betrayal of members of the group;
- The plans for Kumanovo were made in a car “BMW” in Uroshevac;
- 70 percent of the population in Kumanovo Divo naselje was evacuated the night before the attack;
- The situation went out of control when members of the group began to shoot at the police;
- Several weeks before the attack on Goshince sentry, at one of the protest in front MRTV, Stojanche Angelov said that, according to his information, a criminal group received 2 million euros from Macedonian authorities to provoke armed incidents in Lipkovo region.
Most of this information was reported by Kosovo media, especially newspaper “Koha Ditore,” and were transferred by Macedonian media as well.
In connection with some of this information, three days ago, Counter-intelligence Agency came out with a statement responding to the revealing of the identity of their official in the media and announced that it initiated proceedings in the Prosecution to establish liability. However, in its statement, the agency didn’t deny that their official had contact with suspected terrorists before the events of 9th and 10th of May.
Unclear and unanswered
- What were the real motives and goals of the Kumanovo group?
- Is it purely a criminal or terrorist organization?
- If they are terrorists, why didn’t they issued a communiqué and political demands?
- If the security services followed the group for a while and promptly reported on it, as the Counter-intelligence Agency claims, then why the conflict in Kumanovo and the earlier attack on Goshince sentry were not prevented?
- What is the code name of the police action in Kumanovo?
- Whether foreign services were involved in the events?
