Promised Macedonian Army onslaught sharpens divisions

TETOVO - The Macedonian Army stormed Albanian rebel positions in the hills around Tetovo city yesterday, peppering civilian areas with indiscriminate fire.

The operation is likely only to increase ethnic Albanian resentment against the Government and there are fears that the violence could escalate into civil war.

Villagers cowered in their basements as around 200 infantry troops, led by tanks, advanced into Gajre, the first rebel-held village.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers moved slowly through the village, carpeting the area with gunfire.

One man spoke of a horse lying in the road, shot dead in the onslaught. Another said he saw 40 bullet-holes in one car. As the troops moved on, some of the villagers emerged and tried to put out the fires raging in their barns.

The Macedonian authorities claimed they had recaptured all rebel positions in the hills last night. But witnesses said the guerrillas had only moved a short distance back into the woods. The area was quiet late last night.

Refugees, mostly terrified women and children, were seen fleeing the villages. The Macedonian authorities had warned civilians to leave the area, but most were said to have ignored the advice.

Below in Tetevo, five civilians, four men and one woman, were wounded when soldiers sprayed a taxi with gunfire.

One passenger was rushed to Skopje after both his legs were broken by bullets. Four of the wounded were passengers in the taxi, the fifth was a bystander caught in crossfire. All were stable last night.

A Swedish photographer who witnessed the incident said reports that the civilians had opened fire on a military position were unfounded. The soldiers appeared to have opened fire as the taxi raced out of the town centre at speed past their position at the entrance to the road leading into the hills, up which the Army was advancing.

The rebels alleged that at least 10 civilians were killed in the villages as the Army advanced, but it was impossible to verify the claim as firefights raged on the hills and rounds landed inside Tetovo, around the city's main Albanian cemetery.

"We have been trying for several days to get up there [to the villages]" said Amanda Williamson, of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "We are increasingly concerned about the plight of civilians, especially when we can see houses burning."

One soldier was rushed to the capital, Skopje, for medical treatment, after he was shot in the chest by sniper fire, at the same checkpoint where two Albanian men were killed as they tried to throw grenades at police last week.

The military onslaught began at 7 am local time as helicopter gunships attacked rebel positions. Soldiers ordered reporters out of rooms in a hotel on the front line to set up sniper positions.

As the morning wore on, clearly terrified soldiers ran, crouched, through the town, taking up positions behind buildings and ordering residents who had been sheltering there to leave. Armoured personnel carriers charged through the streets, sending civilian cars swerving out of their way.

The Army targeted two houses overlooking the main road into the hills with what appeared to be mortar fire, setting them alight. It was not clear if they were occupied.

As two tanks charged past the two smouldering ruins, leading the advance up the hill, it was clear the houses had been hit to ensure the rebels could not defend the road from them. The tanks were followed by at least six armoured personnel carriers, and infantry. This was the onslaught the Macedonian authorities have been promising for almost a week. It was unclear if they had been hesitating for fear that their military was not capable of forcing the rebels out of the hills, or because the international community was urging restraint.

There was little sign of restraint yesterday, as the fires burned on the hills all around Tetovo.

The operation is bound to be popular with the Macedonian majority population. There have been angry demonstrations in Skopje by Macedonians demanding guns to fight the rebels, and calling on the Government to do more against the guerrillas.

But yesterday's onslaught was not without risk. The Macedonian authorities hailed it as a success - but then they were always going to. In fact, the Army appeared to be struggling for much of the day. At one point several troops returned to Tetovo, seemingly in retreat, and one armoured vehicle was seen coming back into town shot to pieces.

The firing in civilian areas and the fleeing villagers will probably serve only to further inflame Albanian passions. The latest offensive looks likely to provide another division between the two communities.

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