Yugoslav Cease-Fire Fails to End Combat Near Historic City

The Yugoslav army and Croatian rebels battled in the vicinity of the historic Adriatic city of Dubrovnik despite a cease-fire agreement earlier Thursday, European Community observers said.

“Granted, the cease-fire was short-lived,” said EC spokesman Simon Smits. “After 5 o’clock, there was shelling, most notably from the sea, not on the old town but in its vicinity.”

Smits said earlier that the army had agreed to a cease-fire around Dubrovnik that was supposed to start at 5 p.m. after a day of heavy fighting. Croatian forces also had accepted the cease-fire.

In Washington, the State Department summoned the Yugoslav ambassador to protest Yugoslav army attacks on the historic city.

Early Thursday, the army and navy drove Croatian forces out of Dubrovnik’s southern suburbs and toward the gates of the city in a fierce land-and-sea assault.

In a major setback to Croatia’s war effort, the navy landed troops on the tourist beaches of Kupari, four miles southeast of the city and forced Croatian fighters to retreat under an artillery barrage.