SKOPJE Ronald Leary Jersey , Macedonia, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian law enforcement forces have controlled overall security situation after an unidentified armed group attacked the country's northern town of Kumanovo last weekend, but public concerns still prevail.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov returned from an official visit to Moscow upon knowing the information about the attack in Kumanovo, and summoned a meeting of the highest ranking officials and chiefs of national security agencies on Sunday.

"They (the attackers) will pay a high price for what they tried to do to Macedonia. We will not allow the situation to escalate," Ivanov told reporters after the meeting.

He stressed that the security forces have received strict directions on how to act following the attack in order to prevent any additional risks to public security.

The fighting in Kumanovo ended on Sunday and the security forces managed to completely neutralize the armed group hiding in the town Menelik Watson Jersey , Interior Ministry spokesperson Ivo Kotevski confirmed.

A total of eight policemen were killed and 37 others injured while they were trying to disarm and arrest members of the armed group, which the police said was planning terror attacks on state institutions and civilian targets in Macedonia.

"At the place of the operation we have already spotted 14 bodies of terrorists, but we don't exclude the possibility that the number of killed terrorist might be higher. Some of them were wearing uniforms with signs of the Kosovo Liberation Army," said Kotevski.

Another 30 members of the group surrendered and are being questioned by the authorities, he said.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that despite high casualties Shaquil Barrett Jersey , the operation was carried out professionally and efficiently.

"The police established the operation's necessity and timing upon obtaining relevant information. Every postponement of this operation would have meant additional risks," Gruevski said in Skopje on Sunday, adding that the weekend were "the two most difficult days" in his life.

The purposes of the terrorists are still under investigation, but it is certain that one of their main goals was to destabilize Macedonia, Gruevski said.

Opposition leader Zoran Zaev participated in the meeting of the National Security Council Shelby Harris Jersey , demanding the security services clarify who wants to destabilize Macedonia.

Macedonia's security has been threatened by an extremely dangerous group made up of extremists from conflicts in Kosovo, Macedonia and Syria, Macedonian security expert Zlatko Keskovski told Xinhua in Skopje.

With experience in Syria's conflict, the terrorist group is especially capable of combating in intensively populated areas, such as the town of Kumanovo.

"But the resolute action of the police has managed to successfully neutralize this group whose evident goal was to destabilize the country Justin Simmons Jersey ," Keskovski said.

In a joint statement released Sunday, the Macedonia-based missions of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization of Security and Cooperation for Europe and the United States have voiced their concerns over the events in Kumanovo, and called on all parties not to allow such incidents to hurt the Macedonian society.

According to the Macedonian police Jake Butt Jersey , the armed group was planning attacks on sports events, shopping malls and state institutions to cause civilian casualties and fears among the public.

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and over a dozen others wounded after gunmen exchanged fire near a mosque in Afghanistan's northern province of Takhar on Friday, a local official and witnesses said.

The firing took place after Friday prayers when the worshippers were leaving the main mosque in Chah Ab district's bazaar roughly at 02:00 p.m. local time (0930 GMT) Chad Kelly Jersey , a witness told Xinhua.

"Shortly after the praying, two armed groups belonging to local warlords exchanged fire near the gate of the mosque, leaving 10 people killed and about 20 others injured," he said, adding that among the affected people were several civilians.

District administrative Chief Abdul Haseeb Brendan Langley Jersey , when approached by Xinhua, confirmed the incident.

Haseeb blamed the irresponsible armed groups for the carnage, saying loose law as well as carrying arms by irresponsible armed men resulted in the barbaric killing.

"I do confirm that eight civilians were killed and injured as we know so far but more information will be shared after an ongoing investigation into the incident."

The remote district is located near the border with Tajikistan.

Ordinary Afghans usually suffer at the hands of irresponsible armed groups, particularly in remote areas, where the government control is weak.

In mid-2015 Carlos Henderson Jersey , 20 civilians were killed and 10 others injured in a shooting incident during a wedding party in the neighboring Baghlan province.

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Years before he walked into a Texas church and gunned down 26 Sunday worshippers, Devin Kelley proved capable of fearsome violence, convicted of fracturing his infant stepson's skull and accused of beating his dog with his fists.

In 2012, while stationed at an Air Force base in New Mexico, Kelley was court-martialed and sentenced to a year's confinement for abusing his wife and child. The Air Force's chief prosecutor at the time told the New York Times and NBC News that Kelley broke his stepson's sk.