Clashes shatter Macedonia peace

Macedonian troops - first clashes in five days

Ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian forces have clashed once again in one of the heaviest exchanges since the upsurge of violence in the region.

A five-day lull in fighting ended as the Macedonian army launched artillery, tank and helicopter attacks on Albanian-held villages, saying they were responding to rebel shooting.

The army responded using adequate force ... we had to use artillery, tanks and helicopters

Army spokesman

The clashes came as ethnic Albanian guerrillas in southern Serbia signed an agreement to disarm and disband.

Western diplomats had been negotiating the deal designed to stem a potential flood of reinforcements to the rebels in northern Macedonia.

Violence resumes

The Macedonian forces launched an artillery attack on the villages of Slupcane and Vaksince in response to an hour of rebel sniper and machine gun fire, a military spokesman said.

Reports from the area said flashes of gunfire were visible from buildings across the village, as high explosive shells detonated with orange and grey plumes of dust and smoke.

The minaret of the Vaksince mosque was reportedly demolished.

Later, in the nearby village of Opare, the army launched attacks using helicopter gunships and tanks, which were met by machinegun fire from the rebels.

Army spokesman Blagoja Markovski said he thought the rebels had used the break in the fighting to regroup and take up new positions.

These were the first major clashes since Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski suspended military action last Thursday under heavy international pressure, despite the rebels' failure to heed a deadline to lay down their weapons and withdraw.

Other rebels 'disarm'

Across the border in Yugoslavia, the UCPMB - the ethnic Albanian rebel group based in the Presevo Valley - signed a Nato-mediated agreement to disarm.

Rebels are to withdraw from the Presevo Valley

"The UCPMB will be demilitarised, demobilised, and disbanded by no later than 31 May 2001, with the help of the international community," said the Declaration on Demilitarisation, cited by Reuters news agency.

The Yugoslav Government had given the rebels until Thursday to withdraw from the Presevo Valley.

Then its troops will move into the last parts of a buffer zone created by Nato peacekeepers on the Serbian side of the Kosovo boundary, which takes in the Presevo Valley.

Diplomatic efforts

The buffer zone was originally intended as a demilitarised strip of land aimed at keeping Yugoslav forces away from Kosovo.

But ethnic Albanian rebels in southern Serbia succeeded in using it as a base from which to launch attacks against Serbian forces - prompting Nato to decide to allow Yugoslav forces back into the zone.

Some of these rebels have taken advantage of an amnesty declared by Nato peacekeepers to withdraw to Kosovo.

The Red Cross has given aid to villagers caught in the fighting

However, there is concern that some of these rebels may join those fighting against the Macedonian forces.

The BBC's Jonathan Charles said British officials had intercepted messages from guerrilla commanders suggesting that 1,000 extra men could be transferred to the Macedonia conflict after their withdrawal from the Presevo Valley.

But the BBC's south-east Europe analyst says that, given current constraints on their movements, it is unlikely that these rebels would make a major contribution to the group in Macedonia.

Macedonian troops have stepped up border patrols, and Nato has been sharing intelligence with the Macedonian Government.

Diplomats fear that the rebels in northern Macedonia would try to expand the number of villages under their control if they received reinforcements.