Brest attack

After the Tanuševci operation, a Macedonian police convoy was sent to establish presence near the border to Kosovo and to try to prevent an Albanian insurgency by the NLA from taking hold in the area, but found itself trapped in an ambush by the NLA in 9 March.^[12][13] The officials trapped were deputy interior minister Refet Elmazi, state secretary of the ministry of internal affairs Ljube Boškoski and Macedonian police general Aleksandar Dončev. According to Macedonian police estimates, there were around 30 insurgents.^[5] Immediately after the ambush an hour-long battle involving artillery and heavy mortars erupted, after which most of the Macedonian convoy managed to escape.^[12][6] The fighting left one dead from the Macedonian security forces.^[5][10][14] After the firefight the NLA established control in Molino and Brest and the insurgency spread to wider parts of the country.^[15][16]

While the Macedonian convoy was able to break through the ambush, they were forced to seal off the village.^[17][10] The NLA took control of Molino and Brest, and the insurgency spread to wider parts in Macedonia.^{[12][9][10][5]}

According to the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the main motive behind the attack by the NLA was their resentment over the Ministry's establishment of cooperation with the local population, among whom there were those who volunteered to work in the planned reserve police stations.^[5]