Bosnian Government Presses Offensive on Serb Post

Government forces pressed their offensive in northern Bosnia on Monday, apparently seeking control of a key Serbian communications post. Bosnian radio reported major Serbian losses elsewhere in the north.

The radio said Muslim-led government troops had seized 12 square miles of territory from Bosnian Serbs in several days of “severe fighting” around Kladanj, 25 miles northeast of Sarajevo. More than 100 Serbian soldiers died, it said. The report could not be independently confirmed.

If true, it would be one of the biggest land gains during a single government offensive against the Serbs, who hold 70% of Bosnia’s territory after two years of fighting.

In Belgrade, meanwhile, Russia signaled it is standing firm on a new peace plan worked out with the United States and several European states, despite Bosnian Serb reluctance to give up war gains. The plan would give the Serbs 49% of Bosnia, and the new Croat-Muslim federation would get 51%.

“The percentages of territorial delimitation are non-negotiable, and this goes for all three parties in the conflict,” Russian envoy Vitaly S. Churkin said in Belgrade.

The European Union endorsed the peace plan Monday and said it will draft a new map of Bosnia to reflect the proposed division.

In the Bosnian capital, the United Nations reported finding heavy weapons in the 12-mile exclusion zone around Sarajevo.

Spokesman Maj. Rob Annink said U.N. military observers found a 60-millimeter Serbian mortar and an 82-millimeter Serbian mortar in a neighborhood within the zone.

U.N. officials were negotiating with the Serbs to remove the weapons or place them under U.N. supervision, he said.