Macedonian government officials said today they had suffered five deaths in overnight fighting with ethnic Albanian rebels.
Earlier, they said three soldiers had died during rebel attacks on hilltop positions near the village of Gajre above Tetovo, the main ethnic Albanian town in northwest Macedonia.
The total death toll from the attack is now five, said a government spokesman.
It was the highest number of deaths the Slav-dominated army has suffered since an April 28th ambush by rebels near Tetovo left eight dead.
Fighting near Tetovo yesterday marked a shift from the military focus on areas northeast of Skopje, where rebels have held a string of villages since early May.
Rebels say they are fighting for greater rights for their minority, who comprise about a third of the country's population, but the Macedonian government calls them terrorists bent on destroying the state.
