'We Albanians hate terror'

The six-month war between ethnic Albanians and Macedonian forces ended in 2001 with the signing of a cohabitation agreement. But the Albanian Liberation Army of Kosovo and Macedonia claims that the rights of ethnic Albanians are being ignored by the Macedonian authorities. In November 2007 Macedonian police launched an armed offensive on the Albanian village of Brodec. They were looking for terrorists. Local man Ziber Ziberi says that of the five villagers killed and 13 arrested, not one was a terrorist

• Guardian Weekly

An Albanian man sifts through the rubble of his house after the 2001 conflict. Photograph: Yannis Behrakis

At 6am our village, Brodec, was attacked without warning by Macedonian special police. First they shelled us from the surrounding hills, then they came in with helicopters and armed vehicles. The noise was unbearable. My wife, children, mother and mother-in-law ran to a small space under the stairs to hide.

They remained hidden there for several hours – the shelling lasted from early morning to 3pm. My son was ill at the time and he should have been taken to a doctor, but it was impossible to move from the shelter.

There are 300 children in the village; they were supposed to go to school that day, but instead they ran to hide in cellars. The shelling made holes in the walls of our houses, but it was our mosque that took most of the damage. You could literally see through it. The house of my immediate neighbour was burned to the ground by a fire that spread after a grenade hit. The flames were so big we couldn't put them out....................................

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/29/albania-macedonia