Army Attack on Rebels Ends 11-Day Truce
Macedonian troops attacked ethnic Albanian rebels with tanks and helicopter gunships, shattering an 11-day cease-fire and threatening talks aimed at averting civil war.
The attack against rebel positions in Aracinovo and Nikustak followed allegations by President Boris Trajkovski that ethnic Albanian politicians were making demands that the Slav-led government could not accept.
The offensive appeared aimed at pressuring the ethnic Albanians into accepting Trajkovski’s peace plan, which calls for an amnesty for most rebels who disarm voluntarily and would include more ethnic Albanians in state bodies and institutions.
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