Sporadic shooting shook the flashpoint Macedonian town of Tetovo this evening after a day of rising tension in which the government accused the West of abetting separatist Albanian guerrillas.
Residents of the predominantly Albanian town of Tetovo, rocked by a fierce all-day battle yesterday, said Macedonian snipers were firing into the eastern district of Cetinska.
Macedonian television reported a nearby army barracks had been shelled by the rebels, who had earlier withdrawn from front-line positions around Tetovo's sports stadium after yesterday’s battle but appeared to have returned to the area.
A rebel National Liberation Army (NLA) commander in the western suburb of Tece, where the NLA has erected a line of barricades manned by armed local residents, said the positions had come under machinegun fire from nearby Macedonian forces.
"We have not yet received the order to respond," said the man, who gave his name as Commandant Rici.
Angry Macedonians from the Tetovo region, who say they were forced from their homes by heavy fighting in the past 24 hours, staged a heated protest in the capital Skopje, 40 km (25 miles) to the east, demanding that Macedonian forces crush the NLA.