![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Monday, March 29, 1999 Published at 06:35 GMT 07:35 UK World: Europe Kosovo bears the brunt ![]()
The province of Kosovo bore the main brunt of the assaults on the fifth night of Nato bombardment in Yugoslavia.
The official Yugoslav news agency said at least 20 missiles had hit targets in the province. Serb television has been running pictures of a fire raging in the centre of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, reportedly caused by an attack on a police station. Bombers back in the air Four US B-52 bombers took off from RAF Fairford in the UK on Monday morning. Earlier, air raid sirens had sounded again in Belgrade.
However, the Yugoslav authorities have not given any overall figure for casualties since the first day of the bombing. BBC Correspondent John Simpson says it is unclear whether this is because the figures would frighten people or because they are too small to be of use as propaganda. Among the most recent attacks reported from around Yugoslavia:
The separatist Kosovo Liberation Army attacked Serb police in Pristina, Serb sources said.
Clinton supports new campaign
"I strongly support Secretary-General [Javier] Solana's decision yesterday to move to a new phase in our planned air campaign, with a broader range of targets including air defences, military and security targets and forces in the field. "
In an apparent gesture of defiance, Belgrade switched on its streetlights at midnight, ending a blackout which had been imposed as a security measure against air raids. 'No more planes downed' Nato has denied Serbian reports that two of its aircraft had been shot down over Kosovo on Sunday. "We lost no planes", a military official said. "They all returned safely to their bases." This follows the loss of a US F-117 Stealth fighter over Serbia on Saturday night. The Russian defence ministry said it was shot down by a Russian-made anti-aircraft system Kub used by Yugoslavia.
Nato reinforcements Nato is moving in reinforcements in the form US B-52 bombers and British Harrier jets. But two former commanders of United Nations troops in Bosnia - French General Philippe Morillon and British General Sir Michael Rose - have said in separate interviews that Nato cannot destroy the Yugoslav military solely by air, and will have to send in ground troops. Nato officials have repeatedly said they do not want to risk an intervention on the ground. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||