A Macedonian border patrol detained two Albanians for allegedly hunting illegally in the country Friday after a confrontation during which shots were fired in the air, a Macedonian police spokesman said.

Nobody was injured during the incident which happened near the border, in the southern Lake Ohrid national park where hunting is forbidden, Stefan Dimoski said.

Dimoski told The Associated Press that members of a group of about ten Albanian poachers armed with hunting rifles fired in the air when the patrol tried to arrest them. He said Macedonian police also fired in the air. Two of the armed men were detained while the rest fled back into neighboring Albania, Dimoski said.

Albanian police denied that shots were fired, and said in a statement that officials from both countries would meet to clarify the situation.

October 22, 2010
Associated Press

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