Macedonian government officials have accused ethnic Albanian militants of taking several police officers hostage Tuesday near the country's northern border with Kosovo, though opposition leaders and an ethnic Albanian political group are claiming the incident was faked.

Around 40 gunmen who spoke Albanian and wore an insignia associated with the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the KLA's Macedonian branch, the National Liberation Army (NLA), filmed themselves taking four police officers captive, according to Macedonian Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski and reports by Reuters and Balkan Insight.

"This morning, Macedonian state institutions were the target of a terrorist act," Kotevski said at a press conference.

The gunmen reportedly tied up and beat three of the officers, and appeared on camera demanding "an Albanian state." According to Kotevski, the officers somehow escaped when the hostage who was not tied up freed the others. The video of the incident has not yet surfaced.

The ethnically charged incident comes after a string of attacks in Macedonia allegedly committed by Albanians. Macedonia is currently embroiled in political crisis that began in February when Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was accused of illegally spying on more than 20,000 citizens, including journalists, religious figures, and rival politicians.

Several Balkan media outlets have suggested that the Macedonian government staged the kidnapping incident Tuesday to inflame ethnic tensions and draw attention away from the surveillance scandal.

Question raised: How come no bullets were fired, no calls made during the UCK attack on — Vladimir Petreski (@VPetreski)April 21, 2015

Florian Qehaja, director of the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies, told VICE News that current political situation in Macedonia is "quite fragile," and seconded the idea that Macedonian government forces were complicit in the kidnapping. Qehaja said that no forces from Kosovo would attempt to tamper with inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia.

"There are no groups that would destabilize the situation in Macedonia and in the region, that belongs to the past," Qehaja said. "This is part of their political game in Macedonia."

A Kosovo police spokesperson told Reuters that the country's security forcers were not aware of militant activity on the border between the two countries. "I can confirm that during our police work we have not witnessed any movement of individuals or criminal groups crossing illegally the border between Kosovo and Macedonia," the spokesman reportedly said.

Albanian militants were allegedly behind the April 10 bombing of a Macedonian government building. No one was injured in the attack, which also led to claims of Macedonian government involvement. Kosovo newspaper Koha Ditore published a statement purportedly from the NLA and a figure named "Commander Kushtrim" claiming responsibility for the attack, _Balkan Insight _reported.

The same "Commander Kushtrim" claimed another attack in October with a statement that said the NLA is not content with the Ohrid Agreement, a 2001 peace deal between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian groups, including the NLA.

Albanians comprise roughly 30 percent of Macedonia's 2 million citizens, and many feel underrepresented and neglected by the government. After the Ohrid Agreement, the NLA formed the Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), which is currently an active political party.

The DUI reportedly called the incident Tuesday a "provocation" intended to sidetrack the country from achieving ethnic integration, and told citizens "not to worry."