Albanian National Army (ANA) is also known by its Albanian initials (AKSh), which stand for Armata Kombetare Shqiptare.

The group is based in the Republic of Macedonia. The ANA also operates in northern Kosovo and southern Serbia. Serbian officials have asserted that the group has branches in Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.

The ANA supports the unification of Albanian-populated areas in the Balkans to form a greater Albanian nation.

The composition of the ANA is very loose, and prone to splintering. It may have several dozen members. The group does not possess a strict hierarchy. Members reportedly may join or leave the group at their convenience.

Many members of the ANA are former members of other regional militias such as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA); the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB), which operated in southern Serbia; and the National Liberation Army (NLA) from Macedonia. A little-known group calling itself the Montenegrin National Army urged support for the ANA's aims, but that group has yet to demonstrate its existence beyond the Internet.

The Albanian National Fund and the Albanian National Union Front (FBKSh) provide international funding for the ANA. The FBKSh has conducted fundraising for the ANA. In 2003, the group sought money from ethnic Albanian groups in Switzerland, Norway and Germany.

The ANA has not been held responsible for many significant terrorist attacks. Many of its activities seem to be concentrated around criminal operations such as extortion, money laundering and cross-border trafficking. Some analysts have even suggested that its terrorist attacks are designed to bolster its ability to extort. Nevertheless, the group's funding, gained from criminal enterprises, may be diverted to its terrorist activities.

The ANA may have been founded as early as 1999, though it seems to have picked up steam following clashes between insurgent Albanian groups and Macedonian troops in 2001. The growth of the ANA as a terrorist organization coincided with the move by many Albanian fighters to turn in their weapons to NATO in a 2001 peace settlement. Former fighters for the KLA, UCPMB and NLA subsequently contributed much of the ANA's manpower. In November of 2003, the U.S. Dept. of State called the ANA "a loosely organized criminal extremist group [responsible for] … violence in Macedonia and elsewhere in the western Balkans."

The group's ability to conduct successful terrorist operations is limited, as evidenced by several failed attacks. However, it seems to have plenty of weapons, including a ready stockpile of AK-47 rifles, Soviet-type rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, 60-mm mortars, hand grenades, anti-tank mines and plastic explosives. The ANA is as much a criminal organization as it is a terrorist network. Members make money by extorting local Albanians, smuggling cigarettes, people, drugs and arms, as well as through other criminal activities.

The ANA's presumed leader is Lirim Jakupi, a former head of the UCPMB. Another significant figure for the group is Gafur Adili aka Valdet Vardari, though he has not played an operational role with the ANA. After his arrest in 2003, Adili claimed he was no longer the head of the ANA; he has since taken over leadership of the terrorist group's political wing, the FBKSh.

Following several attacks and increased violence by ANA members and ANA-connected gangs in 2003, Macedonian authorities increased their police presence along the border with Albania. Stepped-up security operations may have pushed the ANA to relocate some activities to Kosovo, as seen by an increase in Kosovo-based operations in 2004.

Stability improved in the region following Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008. Incidents of terrorism by various groups, including ANA, have appeared to be in decline and the U.S. State Dept. reported no terrorist incidents in Macedonia in 2008.

April 12: The ANA attempted to blow up a railway bridge connecting Mitrovice with Raska and Kraljevo, in northern Kosovo. The attack claimed the lives of the two people planting the bomb. The ANA's avowed reason for the attack was to sever ties between ethnic Albanian territory and Belgrade. Following this attack, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) issued an administrative order against the ANA; Fabio Mini, the commander of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), condemned the act as a terrorist attack.

September: ANA-connected gangs battled Macedonian security forces north of Kumanovo (near Vaksince and Lipkovo). The Macedonian police, who were attempting to arrest a group of cigarette smugglers, confronted as many as 70 of them in this operation. At least three terrorists were reported to have been killed in the fighting.

March 17: Four days of riots broke out in Kosovo, reportedly instigated by the ANA and other insurgent/criminal groups.

March 23: The alleged operational chief of the ANA, Agran Sulejmani, was killed in a firefight with police near Podujevo, Kosovo, during an attempted ambush. The attack also resulted in the deaths of an Albanian police officer and a U.N. officer from Ghana.

August: A prison break led by a gang with rocket launchers at the Dubrava high security prison near Istok freed two high-ranking ANA leaders. Lirim Jakupi and Xhavid Morina were both being held for the murders of Serbian policemen. Four prison employees were arrested on suspicion of involvement. Jakupi was on the E.U. list of dangerous individuals and subject to a travel ban.

October: Reports of armed ethnic Albanians patrolling in Kosovo near the Serbian border were circulated prior to a new round of negotiations on Kosovo's future. The men told media crews they were members of ANA and prepared to defend Kosovo against Serbian troops. Serbia has opposed the independence of the Albanian-dominated province.

November: A firefight between police forces and the ANA left eight people dead in Macdeonia near the Kosovo border. All the dead were alleged members of ANA. The police discovered a large quantity of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.

November: Radio Free Europe circulated reports that ANA "includes former members of the Albanian nationalist movement that spawned the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)," suggesting that the two groups remained connected.

Jan. 26: Three men were arrested for shooting at a police officer in Pristina. After their arrest, the three claimed ANA membership.

April: The U.S. State Dept. reported that ANA regarded itself as "filling a void created by [the NATO-supported Kosovo Force's] alleged abandonment of several villages near Serbia proper in the municipalities of Podujevo and Kamenica."

July: A Canadian report noted that ANA was based in northeastern Albania and operating on the border with Kosovo. The observed that ANA had threatened to conduct attacks in Macedonia related to its demands for the unification of Albanians.

Sept. 17: A bus carrying people to work at the KEK power plant was stopped at a "checkpoint" near the towns of Vushtrri/Vucitrn. The checkpoint was manned by 12 to 13 men wearing ANA insignias and carrying weapons. The men examined the identification of all present and then released the workers. The case remained under investigation at year's end.