Serbs, Rebels Battle for Kosovo Town

Hundreds of Serbian police battled secessionist guerrillas for control of a central Kosovo town Sunday, while refugees streamed into nearby hills to flee some of the worst fighting in the five-month conflict.

Meanwhile, the pro-government Serbian Media Center in Pristina said that 20 ethnic Albanian rebel fighters were killed by Serbian forces early Sunday after several hundred rebels tried to cross from Albania into Yugoslavia.

For their part, the rebels claimed to have killed 30 Serbian police--and both sides claimed they controlled most of the town of Orahovac. With a population of 20,000, Orahovac is the largest town yet caught in the conflict.

Ethnic Albanians, who outnumber Serbs 9 to 1 in Kosovo, are demanding independence from Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia.

Explosions and machine-gun fire echoed throughout the hills surrounding Orahovac, and several buildings were set on fire in the town about 30 miles southwest of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province.

Reporters on the scene said it wasn’t clear if either force controlled the town amid the house-to-house fighting and shelling in one of the largest battles to date.

The Serbian Media Center said Serbian security forces had gained “total control” of the center of Orahovac and were calling in telecommunication and other workers to restore the town’s infrastructure.

Witnesses said hundreds of refugees from nearby villages fled the area in tractors and trailers as police and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army deployed snipers and heavy weapons throughout the wooded hills to battle for the third consecutive day.

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The guerrilla offensive on Orahovac appeared aimed at expanding the estimated 30% of the Serbian province they hold.

An ethnic Albanian guerrilla commander said his fighters were using rocket launchers and vehicle-mounted machine guns to battle hundreds of police.

“These steps were taken to change the quality of the war from [fighting in] the countryside to urban areas,” said the local KLA commander.

The commander said that 200 Serbian policemen were in the Orahovac police station, cut off from hundreds of reinforcements trying to reach the area.

The commander said his forces had killed at least 30 Serbian policemen and captured almost all of Orahovac since the guerrillas launched their offensive late Friday. But the Serbian Media Center said Serbian police held most of the town early Sunday.