NATO Jets Attack Serbian Rebel Gun Positions, Air Base : Balkans: The limited raid is a response to sorties by nationalists against the Bosnian city of Bihac. Action is the first under a new policy authorizing wider strikes.

Western warplanes launched a limited attack on a Serbian nationalist air base and on missile and antiaircraft artillery sites in south-central Croatia on Monday, destroying the air defenses and making the runways and taxiways unusable, U.S. and allied officials said.

The attack, carried out by North Atlantic Treaty Organization warplanes in retaliation for this month’s three sorties by Serbian rebels near the Bosnian city of Bihac, marked the most extensive strike that the alliance has launched in its 1 1/2-year effort to protect U.N.-sanctioned “safe areas” in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

About 40 NATO aircraft--including 30 combat planes, two-thirds of which were American F-16Cs, F-15Es and F/A-18Ds--took part in the attack, launched at 11:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. PST) from five separate NATO bases in Italy. Officials said that all the aircraft returned to their bases undamaged.

Pentagon officials said that the strikes knocked out one Serbian-controlled SA-6 surface-to-air missile battery and some antiaircraft artillery pieces and left five large craters in the airfield runway, blocking the use of the accompanying taxiways as well.

As in previous NATO air strikes, the raid was carefully limited to minimize the risk that it would spur either Serbian nationalists or Croats to widen the war. U.S. military experts said that the airfield could be repaired easily.

Nevertheless, allied officials said, the strike succeeded in “sending a message” that the United Nations and NATO allies “will not tolerate the use of bases in Croatia for military operations in Bosnia.”

President Clinton, in a session with reporters, called the NATO strike “a strong and entirely appropriate response.”

“We’ll just have to see how events develop,” he said. “But I strongly support the NATO action.”

And Secretary of State Warren Christopher warned that if Serbian nationalists do not stop using their warplanes to bomb Bihac, NATO fighters “will not hesitate” to return with orders to do substantially more damage than they did Monday.

It was not immediately clear what impact Monday’s raid would have on the Bosnian Serbs. Bosnian government reports said that ground fighting in the Bihac area was continuing, but it seemed likely that the Serbian-controlled bombing would be interrupted at least temporarily.

U.S. Adm. Leighton W. Smith, commander of the NATO operation, said that the allied air armada scored “good hits” in the area. But he added: “It’s fairly easy to fill up a hole in an airfield, so I don’t expect this . . . to be out of commission for an awfully long time.”

The raid was the first under a new U.N.-NATO get-tough policy that extended the “no-fly” zone previously maintained only over Bosnia and authorized NATO warplanes to strike at multiple targets, rather than using “pinprick” raids against a single tank.

Monday’s action came after Bosnian Serb forces, backed by renegade Muslim troops, attacked Bosnian government soldiers throughout northwestern Bosnia early Monday, defying a U.N. threat to launch the NATO air strikes if the Serbs did not stop.

Serbian-controlled warplanes had used the Udbina airfield as a base for launching air strikes on Bihac, an enclave held by the renegade Muslims until its capture in August by Bosnian government forces.

On Saturday, the U.N. Security Council voted to allow NATO to expand the “no-fly” zone, which has prohibited Bosnian Serb warplanes from flying over the country. Under the embargo, any Serbian plane caught violating the restrictions is subject to being shot down.

Despite all the warnings by U.S. and NATO officials, policy-makers here stressed that the allies were acting gingerly to avoid any spread of the ground fighting into Croatia.

“Both the Bosnian government and the Croatian government understand that we do not intend to support any action by them that would widen the war, and we made that point strongly to both Zagreb and Sarajevo,” a U.S. official said later.

The official also denied that the raid marked the beginning of any new allied effort to push the Serbs to the peace table by using military force. “We continue to believe that the war should end by (adoption of the peace) agreement (brokered by the United Nations),” he said.

Military officials said that Monday’s raid lasted an hour and 45 minutes. Following standard procedures, allied warplanes first swept in to knock out Serbian nationalist air-defense positions, paving the way for bombing runs. The Serbs fired a missile at the planes but apparently missed.

U.S. officials said that the NATO aircraft used laser-guided bombs to create craters at the intersections of five key runways and taxiways, rendering the airfield temporarily useless, and fired cluster bombs and Maverick missiles at the air-defense facilities.

But planners said they intentionally did not destroy the 15 to 20 Serbian nationalist fighter planes that were parked on a nearby apron, even though it is precisely this kind of aircraft that the Serbs have been using to bombard Bihac.

“As a military proposition, they clearly could have been struck,” one U.S. official said. But he said the raid was sufficient to send the desired message and said that strategists wanted to limit the possible danger to people.

U.S. officials also took pains to point out that the decision to limit the scope of the mission was made jointly by U.N. and NATO strategists. They said it was “clear” that Smith had “agreed with the judgment . . . that this was the appropriate level.”

The Administration has been criticized by members of Congress for allowing the United Nations to control too much of the decision-making for such missions. Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said Monday that it seems as though NATO is becoming subordinate to the United Nations.

Besides the U.S. F-16Cs, F-15Es and F/A-18Ds, the attack force included British Jaguar fighters, French Mirage 2000s and Dutch NF-16Cs. About 10 or 12 support aircraft, including airborne warning and control system planes, also took part.

Meanwhile, in Sarajevo, heavy gunfire broke out again late Monday near the Holiday Inn, the temporary headquarters of the U.S. Embassy. U.S. Ambassador Victor Jackovic took refuge for a short time in the hotel’s basement garage.

Wire services reported that Serbian-fired “Sagger” guided missiles hit the roof of the Bosnian presidency building and near the city government building next door, injuring three people. Sniper fire halted the city’s tram service.

The Bosnian Serbs also shelled government-held Tuzla and several other areas of northern and northwestern Bosnia.

Bombing Raid

About 40 NATO aircraft participated in bombing Serbian targets in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina early Monday morning.

MAIN TARGET:

1) Udbina: NATO warplanes bomb an airfield in Serbian-held Croatia used as staging point for recent air raids on Bihac.

SERBIAN REACTION:

2) Northwestern Bosnia: Serbian forces, backed by renegade Muslim fighters, attack government troops.

3) Sarajevo: Sniper fire intensifies as two missiles strike Bosnian government buildings.

4) Tuzia: Bosnian Serb forces conduct hourly shelling of Tuzla in retaliation for bombings.

Source: Associated Press