Macedonia Launches Murder Suspect Manhunt

The Ministry of Interior confirmed Tuesday that the manhunt to find Murat Ajvazi is still on, but with a reduced intensity. Local media report that the special police forces that swarmed the village Monday evening are no longer visible.

They also report and increased police presence in several other villages near Aracinovo, where the fugitive is believed to be hiding.

After receiving a warrant, police tried to arrest 21-year-old Ajvazi at his house in Aracinovo, but he got away by shooting at them. No one was hurt in the gunfire that followed his attempted arrest.

Police Special Forces and helicopters soon joined the search for the fugitive, but police only found his vehicle, a volkswagen golf.

Ajvazi is linked to a murder in 2007, authorities revealed.

Aracinovo has been known as one of the former strongholds of the now disbanded ethnic Albanian insurgents from Macedonia's 2001 conflict. The conflict ended the same year with the signing of a peace deal that envisaged greater rights to ethnic Albanians.

The place has also been mentioned continuously in police reports as one of the favorite hiding grounds for criminals.