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The NLA arsenal
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| 24 August 2001 |
NLA arms have come from a variety of sources, including the hundreds of thousands of weapons looted from Albanian army armouries in 1997. West and Eastern European black markets have been tapped, as well some unusual sources. Uniforms have been made in factories in Yugoslavia and black market purchases made from corrupt officials in the Zastava arms factory in Serbia. There have also been reports of truck convoys into Macedonia from Bulgaria. During the failed Macedonian police attack to relieve Radusa in early August, government forces had to abandon a T-55 tank and two armoured personnel carriers (a TM 170 and a BTR), which were captured by the NLA and pressed into service against their former owners.
The main arms import routes are via Albania. KFOR’s Operation Eagle has recently begun to be a major headache for the NLA, which has lost 2000 weapons and 180,000 rounds ammunition to NATO patrols. The anarchic nature of Albania, however, means the NLA has a very secure supply line to western Macedonia.
Estimates of the NLA arsenal are very difficult to make, with many Western intelligence agencies completely in the dark about its activities. Weapons known to be in the NLA inventory include 9M32 Strella-2M (SA-7B ‘Grail’ Mod 1) manportable surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), 120mm and 82mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, light anti-tank rockets, 12.7mm heavy machine guns as well as assorted light machine guns and AK-type assault rifles. Land mines and demolition charges have also been used to great effect. The NLA has managed to hold on to all the territory it has captured in spite of heavy government attacks, killing just under 70 members of the security forces for the loss of only a couple of dozen of its fighters at the most.
As far as heavy weapons are concerned, it is estimated by Western sources that the NLA has around 40 mortars and just a handful of SAMs. Small arms are impossible to measure, since every Albanian man in most northern and western villages possesses some kind of weapon. The NLA has been estimated to have 2,000 hardcore fighters and a similar number of volunteers, all of whom have access to some type of weapon.
Who are the NLA?
Origins
NLA aims
Leadership and structure
Control of territory
Conclusion