Macedonians kill seven terrorist suspects

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Police said they killed seven men who opened fire at a patrol near the capital Saturday and described them as foreigners -- probably Pakistanis -- suspected of planning terrorist attacks on Western embassies and Macedonian officials.

The men tried to ambush a police patrol near Butel, a suburb of Skopje, Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski said. He said they opened fire with machine guns when police told them to identify themselves, and police fired back, killing all seven. Officials said no police were hurt.

"They are probably Pakistani citizens," Boskovski told reporters. "That terrorist group was in the area with an aim of attacking vital installations, Macedonian officials and the embassies of Germany, Great Britain and the U.S. in Skopje."

Police officials said they found seven AK-47 assault rifles, several hand grenades and ammunition in or near the van the men used.

Boskovski did not provide any details about the suspected plans for attacks. The U.S. Embassy released a statement that said U.S. personnel were "not aware of any indication that there was a specific threat" to the embassy.

A senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said interrogation several weeks ago of two Jordanians and two Bosnians revealed links to a group planning to kill government officials and attack the American, British and German embassies in Skopje.

Security measures were subsequently increased, he said.

Western officials speaking on condition of anonymity said heightened security measures were in effect at some of their embassies. More than a dozen police officers were seen posted around the U.S. Embassy compound after the clash -- a larger number than usual.

In addition to the weapons, a police statement said security forces at the site of the clash found uniforms with shoulder patches of the National Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanian rebel group that fought Macedonian forces in an insurgency last year but is now disbanded.