At least three people were wounded in a shooting in an ethnic Albanian area of the Macedonian capital, Skopje, during the country’s parliamentary election on Sunday, police and party officials said.
”We were attacked,” said Izet Mexhiti, a senior official of the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) party, blaming activists of the rival Democratic Party of Albanians.
He said a DUI official from the party branch of the Cair neighbourhood had been wounded in the stomach and was treated in hospital.
Two passers-by were wounded, he said, adding that his party had received reports that three other people were also injured.
Reuters witnesses said police had cordoned off parts of the neighbourhood. Officials at the scene confirmed the shooting.
Voting was halted earlier in the ethnic Albanian town of Aracinovo because of security concerns. State news agency MIA reported scuffles in other areas and a small explosive device being thrown at an empty cafe.
The election is seen as a test of the country’s political maturity after campaign violence raised fears its slow progress toward European Union membership could be further delayed. — Reuters