Gunfire Cancels Sarajevo Relief Flights

A U.S. relief plane was hit by Serb gunfire Saturday, and all aid flights to Sarajevo were canceled.

The gunfire underscored the mounting tensions between U.N. peacekeepers and Bosnia’s warring sides, which have resumed fighting in recent weeks despite an ostensible cease-fire.

The 10 bullets that hit the C-130 transport plane during takeoff came from rebel Serb positions northwest of the airport, a U.N. spokesman said.

The plane’s hydraulic system was damaged and the cockpit windshield hit, U.N. officials said. There were no injuries and the plane flew on to Italy. The airport was put on alert and all flights were canceled.

U.N. officials, frustrated over repeated hijackings of U.N. vehicles and equipment, agreed to allow Serb military officials to check vehicles using a key road from the airport to the city in exchange for guarantees of safety.

The agreement defused a tense standoff between Serbs and French peacekeepers at a checkpoint on the road, but it also succeeded in angering the Bosnian government.

“The U.N. . . . is now on its knees in front of the Serbs,” said a Bosnian army commander.

Fighting has increased on most fronts with the collapse of a Dec. 31 truce that had never been fully obeyed. Both sides have said they will not extend it after it formally expires May 1.

U.N. officials reported heavy shelling on the northeastern battlefront and large movements of Croatian Serb and renegade Muslim troops in the northwestern Bihac area. The Bosnian government and rebel Muslim radios claimed heavy losses for the opposing side, suggesting heavy fighting.

Three mortar shells hit the center of Sarajevo on Saturday, wounding one person.