Thirty people were charged with terrorism offenses following the clashes, including 18 citizens of the partially recognized state of Kosovo, and two Macedonians who had lived there.
PHOTOS: Shootings start again after a 30 min pause ensured by OSBE. Pictures are taken from the citizens of #Kumanovo pic.twitter.com/9PJ33BP5KY
— Vlera Gjakova (@VleraGjakova) 9 мая 2015
Not yet done, still shooting and detonations, some buildings on fire. #Kumanovo #Куманово pic.twitter.com/mtgJdNvy2B
— Marko Filipovsky (@MarkoFilipovsky) 9 мая 2015
Rather than being angry with the group that organized the deadly clashes, residents of Kumanovo blame Macedonia’s ruling parties of fueling a political conflict, Mayor Zoran Damjanovski told Sputnik.
“They believe that Kumanovo was quite unnecessarily dragged into this conflict, and that Kumanovo used to be an example of tolerance and does not deserve to become a Balkan black hole,” he said.
Situation in #Kumanova remains very temse. Civillians fleeing their homes, no info on killed/injured #Kumanovo pic.twitter.com/LHs6YLjBNT
— Tea Begolli (@TeaBegolli) 9 мая 2015
The Kumanovo clashes come weeks after an attack in the Macedonian village of Gosince near the border with Kosovo, where dozens of gunmen seized the local police station, calling for the establishment of an Albanian state within Macedonia.
Ethnic Albanians make up about one-fourth of Macedonia's two-million population.
#Kumanovo also saw fighting during the 2001 insurgency in #Macedonia. Situation right now seems volatile. pic.twitter.com/67nCKdJHFj
— Jasmin Mujanović (@JasminMuj) 9 мая 2015
The critical situation is now over and normal life in the city is being gradually restored, according to the mayor.
On Wednesday, schools and kindergartens will reopen, and central and local authorities will begin jointly assessing damage to property caused by the fighting, he said.
