Balkans: March 20, 2001

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Macedonian forces conducted another series of operations in the Tetovo area. On March 19 Macedonian Army units supported Macedonian police units in the Tetovo operation. One report said the Army support was confined to artillery fire. Another report said the Macedonian Army had deployed tanks (including T-55s) in the area, but there was no report that the armor had engaged in combat. On March 20 Macedonian police announced one of their units captured a rebel NLA position near the village of Drenova, outside Tetovo. Also on March 20, a 400-man contingent of German troops serving in KFOR entered Tetovo. The report did not indicate if the troops were combat troops. Around 1000 German logistics personnel were deployed in Tetovo to support operation in Kosovo. On March 16, NLA rebels fired on the barracks where the German logistics troops were housed. One German soldier was wounded in the attack. A KFOR spokesman said that 900 of the logistics personnel had been withdrawn, leaving around 100 at the base. The Germans sent in tanks and APCs to help conduct the evacuation, so German combat forces have been into Tetovo. The deployment (or re-deployment) of the German unit to Tetovo is an indication that NATO intends to support the Macedonian government.

 

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