Macedonia marks the 18th anniversary of the Karpalak massacre, when terrorists from the Albanian UCK/NLA organization attacked a convoy of Macedonian army reservists, killing 10 of them.

The convoy was ambushed in Karpalak, a rocky stretch midway between Skopje and Tetovo, along the highway. Nane Naumoski, Saso Kitanoski, Branko Sekuloski, Goran Minoski, Marko Despotoski, Erdovan Sabanoski, Ljube Grujoski, Darko Veljanoski, Vebi Rusitoski and Pece Sekuloski, all from or around Prilep, were killed when their truck was riddled with bullets and RPGs. It was one of the greatest losses of life in the short lived civil war sparked by UCK/NLA in 2001.

We are here to honor our heroes. We owe them a huge debt and we must preserve the freedom they died for. We must preserve the unitary Macedonia they fought for, said Aleksandar Nikoloski, who led the VMRO-DPMNE delegation at the memorial ceremony in Karpalak.