Concern grows for Macedonia civilians

Refugees have fled the fighting

There is growing concern for civilians trapped by fighting in Macedonia, as the army steps up its offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels in the north of the country.

An army spokesman said that some people trying to leave the village of Slupcane had been turned back by rebel sniper fire.

Having captured the rebel stronghold of Vakcince, the army has turned its attention to Slupcane, attacking it with helicopters and artillery.

BBC correspondent Colin Blane says the rebels have been answering with fire of their own.

Macedonian forces control the village of Vakcince

Reporters heard heavy shelling coming from the direction of Slupcane on Saturday, the third day of a ground offensive to drive the rebels from the area.

There are reports of dozens of casualties, both among the rebels and among civilians, but no independent confirmation.

New rebel positions

On Saturday a leader of the rebel National Liberation Army confirmed that Vakcince had been abandoned, but said his men were holding positions above the village.

It is only us left in Slupcane, we can defend ourselves

Rebel leader

Our correspondent said after two days of heavy shelling, the last of the civilian population emerged having huddled together in cellars for weeks.

He said with the Macedonian army and police in control, the streets were deserted.

The rebels say they have taken up new positions in the hills.

One report quoted a rebel leader as saying that civilians had left Slupcane for the nearby village of Lipkovo.

"It is only us left in Slupcane, we can defend ourselves," he said.

Exodus

About 1,000 people left Vakcince on Friday, escorted by police on foot for 5km (three miles) over fields and then taken in buses to safety.

They followed an exodus of an estimated 2,000 people who fled mainly from Lojane on Thursday night, heading north into Serbia.

The government had repeatedly urged villagers to flee, ahead of the military action, anxious to maintain international sympathy and avoid radicalising moderate Albanians.

Several more villages further south remain under the control of the rebels - who emerged in the area three weeks ago - and correspondents say the army will not stop now until it has recaptured them all.

Political row

The army launched its offensive on Thursday as a political storm broke over a secret move by two ethnic Albanian political parties to negotiate directly with the rebels.

The government urged people to move to safety

The row threatens to break up the governing coalition, with Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski accusing the two party leaders involved of taking their parties "into a terrorist organisation".

The move by Arben Xhaferi of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) and Imer Imeri of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) to sign an accord on "common action" with the rebels provoked international condemnation.

The deal offered the rebels amnesty guarantees and a right of veto over decisions about ethnic Albanian rights, if they agreed to stop fighting.

Both the rebels and the mainstream ethnic Albanian parties want to see a change to the constitution which would give Macedonia's large ethnic Albanian minority the same status as the majority Slavs and make Albanian an official language.

The rebels are also widely believed to be seeking to annex Albanian-populated areas to Kosovo or Albania.