Albanian national shot dead in border incident Deutsche Presse

Albanian national shot dead in border incident
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - June 18, 2003, Wednesday

Skopje - Macedonian border guards shot dead an Albanian national Wednesday as he attempted to enter the country illegally, army sources said in a statement.

The 40-year-old was shot as he ventured some 500 metres deep into Macedonia and refused to obey army patrol instructions, the statement said.

Another Albanian managed to lead several horses allegedly carrying boxes full of weapons back to Albanian territory.

"The patrol had to shoot, as they refused to surrender and tried to escape", the source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.

The Macedonian army recently stepped up control of the border with neighbouring Albania in an internationally backed attempt to tackle cross-border weapons smuggling, drugs and human trafficking.

The border between Macedonia and Albania was a major arms smuggling route for ethnic Albanian rebels the during 2001 insurgency.

14:18 Central European Time - 18 June 2003