Date 28 April 2001 Location Selce, Litija, Slovenia | Result Albanian victory | |
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Patrol of 16 Macedonian Special Forces 25 - 50 National Liberation Army 8 massacred, 7 killed by gunfire no fatalities, 1 wounded | ||
The Vejce massacre (Macedonian: Масакрот кај Вејце) was one of the most brutal massacres in the modern history of the Republic of Macedonia and during the 2001 Insurgency. The massacre took place on the late afternoon of 28 April 2001 near Vejce, a village in the Šar Mountains. It was committed by Albanian extremists of the National Liberation Army (UÇK).
Massacre
In an ambush, prepared between the villages Selce and Vejce, the Albanian insurgents attacked the patrol of 16 Special Forces, among them eight members from the Special Forces BSN Volci and eight members of the Macedonian Police. Eight members of the Macedonian Special Forces and Police were killed in the ambush. The victims were captured by the insurgents, executed, mutilated, and burned alive.
The autopsy demonstrated that only one member of the Macedonian security forces was killed in the first attack of the Albanian insurgents. The others were tortured and then set on fire. At the site of the crime, there were found missiles of automatic rifles, rocket launchers, knives and a gun.
News of the deaths sparked local riots against ethnic-Albanians in several towns and cities across Macedonia, included burning and vandalising shops and mosques.