Macedonian troops seize villages

The armoured column heads for the hills

The Macedonian armed forces have retaken several villages in the hills overlooking the northern city of Tetovo from ethnic Albanian guerrillas in a major offensive.

They say one of the villages was Selce, where the rebels were reported to have had their headquarters.

Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, who has been visiting troops in the area, said the operation was proceeding as planned.

Troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, spent the day slowly advancing, exchanging fire with the rebels who first appeared near the city 11 days ago.

Reporting from the scene, BBC correspondent Nick Wood witnessed more than 200 troops, sheltering behind tanks and armoured personnel carriers, progressing up the thickly-forested hillsides.

After several hours of fighting, they took the village of Gajre, which faces the main ethnic Albanian rebel base across the valley at Selce.

Tanks pushed their way through trees felled to block the road and moved gradually into the village, firing as they went.

The National Liberation Army rebels withdrew into the woods above the village.

Albanians wounded

At least one policeman, a soldier and four civilians were wounded.

The director of the Tetovo hospital said the policeman and the four ethnic Albanian civilians had suffered bullet wounds.

We are right now in the real war

Stevo Pendarovski, Macedonian Interior Ministry

Mortars have been brought up to help the advancing troops, and are targetting the rebel positions at Selce.

The government says it expects the offensive to be over in two days.

Correspondents say that given the rebels' knowledge of the terrain and their mobility, that may be optimistic.

Sunday's attack was the first time government forces have been sent into the hills, after pounding suspected guerrilla positions above the town for more than a week.

A house is set on fire in the artillery barrage

A spokesman said the government had acted now because the country's Macedonian and Albanian communities were becoming radicalised and there was a danger they would start taking matters into their own hands.

The attack began after a fierce artillery bombardment beginning at dawn.

A long convoy of army vehicles passed through Tetovo ahead of the offensive, and helicopter gunships have been seen in action for the second consecutive day.

'Retake territory'

"Actions undertaken until now only succeeded in containing the terrorists, but we now want to retake the territory," Interior Ministry spokesman Stevo Pendarovski told the BBC.

"We are right now in the real war," he said. The guerrillas are believed to have between 300 and 700 lightly armed fighters in the mountains and in villages where up to 20,000 people may still be living.

Civilians have been ordered to move

The BBC's defence correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, says the rebels are relatively well-equipped and have great mobility.

There have been allegations that the guerrillas receive support from Kosovo, but the province's three most influential political leaders made clear on Friday that they do not back the rebellion.

The international community is providing political and financial support to Macedonia in its fight against the guerrillas, but is at the same time urging restraint on both sides.

Civilians have been warned to pack up and leave the areas at the heart of the conflict. Thousands have done so.

The guerrillas have threatened to escalate the conflict if the Macedonian authorities reject their offer of a truce and talks.