Karpalak ambush

Karpalak ambush
	Part of the Battle of Tetovo and 2001 insurgency in Macedonia
Date	8 August 2001
Location	Near Grupčin, on the Skopje–Tetovo highway, Macedonia41°58′39″N 21°10′12″E / 41.97750°N 21.17000°E
Result	NLA and ANA victory Macedonian Air Force bombs predominantly Albanian villages around Tetovo; Anti-Albanian sentiment spread across Prilep with Anti-Albanian protests and riots across the city; Peace negotiations continue, eventually leading to the Ohrid Agreement;
Belligerents
National Liberation Army; Albanian National Army	Macedonia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown; Unknown	Nane Naumoski †; Sašo Kitanoski †
Units involved
National Liberation Army Brigade 112 "Mujdin Aliu"; ; Albanian National Army;	Macedonian Army Military Reserve Force Prilep Garrison; ; ;
Strength
Unknown	120 reservists
Casualties and losses
None; None	10 reservists killed; 3 reservists wounded; 1 truck destroyed; 1 bus destroyed
	Site of the ambush Location within North Macedonia

The Karpalak ambush (Macedonian: Заседа кај Карпалак; Albanian: Pritë në Karpalak), referred to by Macedonians as the Karpalak massacre (Macedonian: Масакр кај Карпалак), was an attack carried out by the National Liberation Army (NLA) against a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM) near the village of Grupčin on 8 August 2001 during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia. Ten members of the ARM's Military Reserve Force, including two officers, were killed at Karpalak and three others were wounded. The ambush was the single deadliest incident of the conflict. It was speculated that the ambush was carried out in retaliation for a Macedonian police raid in Skopje, the day before in which five NLA insurgents were killed.

In the years following the ambush, the Macedonian government has commissioned several plaques commemorating the fallen reservists, which have become the frequent target of vandals. This has prompted complaints from veterans' organizations that the government has not done enough to ensure the reservists are properly commemorated.