(ANSA) - TRIESTE - A court in Macedonia has convicted 33 people accused of being members of an ethnic Albanian militant group and planning terrorist attacks. The suspects were arrested following a deadly police raid in 2015. The raid and an ensuing gun battle near in the northern border town of Kumanovo left eight officers and 10 militants dead.

Seven of the defendants were handed life sentences, and another 13 were sentenced to 40 years in prison. The others got prison sentences from 12 to 20 years. Some of the defendants were from neighboring Kosovo, while others were from Macedonia's own Albanian minority. Albanians are believed to make up around 30% of Macedonia's population, living mostly in the northwest near the borders with Kosovo and Albania. Macedonia has a large ethnic Albanian minority and fought a nine-month insurgency against militants from the minority in 2001. The so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) disbanded in 2002 and some of its former leaders entered the government. (ANSA).