The Special Anti-terrorist Unit is a police unit from

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

History

On March 13, 1981, the unit was established in

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

(now

). The unit was involved in the

2001 insurgency in Macedonia The 2001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanians in North Macedonia, Albanian National Liberation Army (North Macedonia), National Liberation Army (NLA) insurgent group, formed from veter ...

. On March 29, Tigers along with the military units

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

took over Tanuševci. In the battle of Aračinovo, the Tigers and Wolves failed to stop the rebels' defense line. Tigers defended the water supply during the

battle of Raduša The battle of Raduša was part of the wider inter-ethnic conflict known as the insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia between the Albanian National Liberation Army (Macedonia), NLA and Macedonian security forces concentrated near the border wit ...

. The unit was withdrawn from the battlefield, allegedly due to being sent into battle without adequate support, and refusing to obey orders. During the insurgency, the unit was also involved in the raid and killing of five ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army rebels on August 7 in Skopje. According to

Institute for War and Peace Reporting The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is an independent nonprofit organization that trains and provide publishing opportunities for professional and citizen journalists. IWPR is registered in the UK as a charity (charity reg. no: 1027201, ...

in 2002, most of the recruits to the Tigers were members of VMRO-DPMNE, with a significant number having criminal records. 14 Tigers got charged for being involved in a fight in Vinica the same year. The unit, along with the unit

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

, was recorded assaulting workers, opposition journalists, media personnel, political activists and random civilians, and also threatening opposition politicians. The unit participated in the 2015 Kumanovo clashes, where eight of its members were killed.

Notable domestic missions

** Battle of Aračinovo **

Battle of Raduša The battle of Raduša was part of the wider inter-ethnic conflict known as the insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia between the Albanian National Liberation Army (Macedonia), NLA and Macedonian security forces concentrated near the border wit ...

** Skopje police raid * 2007 Operation Mountain Storm * 2015 Kumanovo clashes

Foreign missions

Serbia

2014 Floods in Serbia – 24 men and one

Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories in Russia, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russia ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina

2014 Floods in Bosnia – 15 men.

References

External links

Video about Tigers
(in Macedonian) Specialist law enforcement agencies of North Macedonia {{law-enforcement-agency-stub