Offensive Targets Albania Separatists
Serbian and Yugoslav forces launched a fierce offensive Tuesday on the last remaining stronghold of ethnic Albanian separatists in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
By late Tuesday, the combined forces had seized at least four guerrilla-held villages and killed many rebels, said the Serb Media Center, which releases official information. Several hundred guerrillas withdrew deeper into the Drenica region, it said.
Ethnic Albanian residents from at least 12 additional villages were forced to flee, said the Kosovo Information Center, which represents the ethnic Albanian viewpoint.
Up to 15,000 civilians are believed trapped in the region. Many were hiding in the hills and forests of central Drenica.
Amid the intense fighting, the United Nations pondered ways to end the killing and avert the threat of mass deaths from cold and starvation this winter among unsheltered refugees.
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