In Australia, some members of the Macedonian community have told SBS they are worried about the developments in Kumanovo.
Sydney-based journalist and publisher Victor Bivell said the violence could affect Macedonia's political situation, already marred by claims of massive corruption, and instability.
"I'd really like to see the results of the interrogation, but if there are links to the drug trade, and people who are well armed I think it could have repercussions on Macedonia's domestic politics, but it may work to unite the people to get to the bottom of what's going on and solve what is a very nasty situation," Mr Bivell told SBS.
"The things that strike me about the incidents are that it's a large group of people and that they are very well-armed. There are reports they've got grenades, automatic weapons, military uniforms and they've had military training. So, we're not talking about ordinary citizens here - we're talking about people with a very specific agenda that doesn't sound very benign. It's actually a great concern that there could be a reasonably large group of people that way inclined," he said.
'Transparent investigation'
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged restraint in Macedonia on Sunday and called for a transparent investigation of violence in which the government said eight police and 14 members of an 'armed group' were killed.
"I'd really like to see the results of the interrogation, but if there are links to the drug trade, and people who are well armed I think it could have repercussions on Macedonia's domestic politics, but it may work to unite the people to get to the bottom of what's going on and solve what is a very nasty situation.
"I am following the developments in Kumanovo with great concern," Stoltenberg said in a statement. "It is important that all political and community leaders work together to restore calm and conduct a transparent investigation to establish what happened."
"I urge everyone to exercise restraint and avoid any further escalation, in the interest of the country and the whole region," he said.
Eight police officers and 14 alleged members of an armed group have been killed in fighting in a northern Macedonian town, amid increased concern about the political stability of the Balkan nation.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said on Sunday that 37 other police officers were wounded in the clashes that started on Saturday.
Kotevski told reporters the police operation is now over and "one of the most dangerous terrorists groups in the Balkans has been neutralised."
He said police had found the bodies of 14 people believed to be members of the armed group. Some of those killed wore uniforms with the insignia of the disbanded ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army, or UCK.
The UCK, an ethnic Albanian rebel group, fought Serb government forces for Kosovo independence in 1998-1999.
Kotevski named five leaders of the 44 member group, all citizens of Kosovo, as founders of paramilitary structures. He said the group entered Macedonia at the start of May with the aim of launching attacks on state institutions.
It had set up in the Kumanovo neighbourhood of Diva Naselba and police found a huge arsenal of weapons at the location, he added.
Police have filed terrorism-related charges against more than 30 members of the group who have surrendered. Later on Sunday, they are expected to be brought before an investigative judge, who will decide on possible detention.
The fighting comes as Macedonia grapples with its deepest political crisis since it gained independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991.
The government and the opposition have accused each other of planning to destabilise the country to take or preserve power, and some analysts fear leaders on both sides are ready to provoke ethnic clashes as leverage.
Kumanovo is an ethnically mixed town located about 40 kilometres northeast of the capital Skopje, near the border with Kosovo and Serbia. The region was the centre of hostilities between ethnic Albanian rebels and government forces during the ethnic conflict in 2001.
