PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) — Government forces Tuesday pushed ethnic Albanian rebels from a key stronghold in central Kosovo and battled the insurgents for control of a strategic highway. More than 20,000 refugees were on the move to escape the fighting.
The Serb Media Center said that Serb troops captured Malisevo, a Kosovo Liberation Army base 25 miles southwest of the provincial capital, Pristina. Albanian sources confirmed that the rebels had withdrawn from the village, leaving behind thousands of ethnic Albanian civilians.
The loss of Malisevo was the latest setback suffered by the KLA since government forces launched a major offensive Friday night along three fronts.
Serb police and Yugoslav troops also sealed off the rebel stronghold of Junik, 50 miles southwest of Pristina, along the Albanian border.