May 21, 2001
Macedonian government forces shelled and rocketed ethnic Albanian rebel positions Monday, while guerrillas in nearby Serbia prepared to sign a demilitarization pact.
Tanks, artillery and combat helicopters were in action against guerrillas in a cluster of villages in northeastern Macedonia held by the insurgents for nearly three weeks, including Vakcince and Slupcane. The minaret of Vakcince mosque was demolished and shells were exploding around it. A Reuters photographer could see tracer rounds coming from guerrilla return fire.
A guerrilla officer told Reuters by telephone that there had been heavy shelling and helicopter attacks on Slupcane and Vakcince. ``Some houses are on fire,'' he said. ``We have no casualties.'' Smoke was rising from the direction of Slupcane, a heavily damaged guerrilla stronghold to the southwest. Hundreds of villagers are still in the basements of their homes -- held there as human shields, according to the government.
The shelling interrupted a general cease-fire in effect since last week. Ethnic Albanian rebel commanders in Macedonia denied there was a plan for insurgents in southern Serbia to move into northern Macedonia and link up with guerrillas there. ``There is no truth in these reports,'' Commander Sokoli told Reuters by telephone Monday. A second commander called Hoxha said: ``We have enough soldiers already.''
GUERRILLAS MAY HEAD SOUTH
Speculation is mounting that some guerrillas may head south to join the fighting in Macedonia as Serbian forces, following a decision by NATO, prepare to take control of a 35 km (22 mile) strip of land in the Presevo Valley on the Kosovo boundary. The operation was due to start Thursday, raising the possibility that Macedonian forces might launch an assault at the same time to sap the guerrillas' morale.
Sokoli's self-styled National Liberation Army (UCK in Albanian) denies links with the UCPMB guerrillas in Serbia's Presevo Valley. But the two ethnic Albanian armed groups are only 20 km apart and are assumed to cooperate. ``They (the UCPMB) have signed a demilitarization agreement and are sticking to it,'' Sokoli said, referring to a NATO-brokered pact about to take effect. ``There is no chance for a linkup between them and us.''
Riza Halimi, the ethnic Albanian mayor of the town of Presevo, said the UCPMB guerrillas were expected to sign the demilitarization agreement Monday. ``It will take effect between May 24 and May 31,'' he told Reuters. Reporters saw most of the guerrilla group's leaders attend Monday's talks but one rebel commander who has vowed to resist the Yugoslav deployment was thought to be absent.
GUERRILLAS LEAVE SERBIA HAVEN
NATO officials say more than 170 UCPMB guerrillas have put aside their weapons and crossed into Kosovo, and their movement appeared to be fracturing.
Privately, guerrillas in Macedonia say a few UCPMB fighters have moved south to the villages the UCK have held in northern Macedonia during nearly three weeks of Macedonian artillery bombardment and helicopter rocket attacks. "We have said we will respond to the attacks of the Macedonian forces and we might even launch a counter-attack if provoked,'' Sokoli said. ``If I were them, I would look at the odds against me there (in Presevo) and then redeploy using first free passage to Kosovo,'' a Western diplomat in Macedonia said.
An estimated few hundred insurgents are defying demands by the Macedonian government and all the major powers to surrender or withdraw from villages they have occupied. Guerrillas holding the heavily shelled village of Slupcane Sunday claimed high morale and low casualties. But they said food was running short in the virtual siege.
The Red Cross evacuated 38 women and children Sunday from Vakcince and Lojane, practically on the border with Serbia. Many more remain huddled in the cellars of their houses.
Shawn Sullivan, head of the NATO office in Yugoslavia, said he was confident the UCPMB guerrilla group would keep its word. ``The UCPMB will fully comply with demilitarization,'' he said. ``However, they are trusting that the international community and the Serbian government will act on the commitments made in the past to the ethnic Albanian community.''
The Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, known as the UCPMB after the initials of its name in Albanian, emerged in January last year, saying it was fighting Serb repression of ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley. The National Liberation Army of Macedonia (UCK in its Albanian acronym) emerged as a fighting force in January, carrying out attacks on Macedonian police.
