Muslims Gain Ground From Bosnian Serbs

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Fighting between Muslim and Serbian forces around the northern Bosnian Muslim enclave of Tuzla is intensifying, and Muslim troops have gained ground, U.N. sources said Saturday.

U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Capt. Jens Kirk reported “rather hectic” tank and artillery duels around Vares on Friday that forced U.N. military observers to take shelter five times in as many hours.

In Tuzla, a U.N. source said Muslim fighters had captured a strategic hill near Ribnica on Wednesday. The hill is the highest in the Mt. Ozren range, and its capture was an unusual success for the Muslims, who can rarely match Serbian firepower.