12 Hurt in Macedonia as Fighting Rages On

Macedonian forces and ethnic Albanian rebels battled in a northwestern town Thursday, injuring 12 people and dimming hopes that a newly agreed-upon peace plan could end six months of bloodshed.

The Macedonian army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Pande Petrevski, stepped down from his post to take responsibility after 10 soldiers died Wednesday in a rebel ambush, according to officials. A policeman was killed in fighting overnight.

The government declared Thursday a day of national mourning.

Fighting raged anew around Tetovo, Macedonia’s second-largest city, amid pessimism about whether a new Western-brokered peace accord reached by politicians across the ethnic divide Wednesday would help prevent a new Balkan war.

The rebels--who are to agree voluntarily to lay down their arms to a force of 3,500 soldiers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization once the deal is signed and an amnesty and lasting cease-fire are in place--attacked barracks in Tetovo with grenades and machine gun fire.

Residents seeking cover in basements heard detonations and gunfire around the city and army helicopters clattering overhead.

Ten civilians were injured in fighting around the city and in nearby Gostivar, hospital officials said.

Two policemen also were hurt. Six civilians, meanwhile, were kidnapped by rebels near Lesok, north of Tetovo.

Adding to the casualties, policeman Dusko Sinadinovski died in an attack overnight by rebels in the northwestern village of Ratae, Macedonia’s MIA news agency said.

A councilor from the central town of Veles said a 14-year-old ethnic Albanian boy, Tafil Vejseli, was killed by suspected ethnic Macedonian paramilitary fighters overnight. There was no independent confirmation.