2010 Blace bunker raid

In 2001, the region around Blace was engulfed in the armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonian security forces. The six-month conflict ended the same year with the Ohrid Framework Agreement that granted greater rights to ethnic Albanians in the country. According to Balkan Insight, the area around Blace was considered a hiding place for the armed insurgents. The ethnic Albanian insurgent group National Liberation Army (NLA) disbanded after the conflict and its leaders created the ethnic Albanian political party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). ==Raid==

The Macedonian special police unit "Tigers" performed a raid on 29 April 2010 near the village of Blace on the border with Kosovo. The Macedonian security forces briefly clashed with an armed group guarding bunkers and weapon caches on the Macedonia-Kosovo border. The group fled to Kosovo after a short fire exchange. Per A1 TV, one armed man was wounded by the police. The Macedonian police continued to search the area and discovered a large quantity of weapons including 20 missiles, three mortars, three field guns, TNT explosives, hand grenades and anti-tank mines, also uncovered were emblems of uniforms of the former NLA. According to the Macedonian interior minister Gordana Jankuloska, the group was planning large military operations to destabilize Macedonia and the wider Balkan region. ==Aftermath==

An alleged NLA communiqué was sent to the Macedonian media, stating that it would continue operating in the country. According to Alfa TV, the perpetrators of the 2015 Kumanovo clashes and attack at Gošince were men who were previously involved with the incidents with the weapon caches. == See also ==