Albania condemns terror attack in Macedonia's Kumanovo

Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati on Sunday condemned last weekend's terror attack in north Macedonia's town of Kumanovo, saying any act of violence is unacceptable.

"We express our grief over the loss of human lives and encourage the Macedonian authorities to conduct transparent, cooperative and full investigation to establish the cause of the incident...We consider it unacceptable that any person or group of armed men makes terror attacks on ethnic grounds," Bushati said.

He stressed the importance of putting aside the language of hatred and upholding the rule of law.

Noting that escalation of the situation is not in the interest of democracy, stability and prosperity in Macedonia, Bushati said the language of hatred and extreme actions should be put aside to pave the way for guaranteeing basic human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The minister added that harmony of inter-ethnic relations, defined in the Ohrid Agreement, is fundamental to democratic stability and a Euro-Atlantic future for Macedonia.

Macedonian police launched a major operation in the northern town of Kumanovo early Saturday to destroy and detain members of an international armed terrorist group.

Eight policemen and 14 gunmen were killed during the operation, and over 20 members of the group surrendered and are being questioned by the police, the Macedonian government confirmed on Sunday.

"At the place of the operation we have already spotted 14 bodies of terrorists, but we don't exclude the possibility that the number of killed terrorists might be higher," Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski told a press conference. Endi