PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) — Serbian forces have launched a new offensive in southern Kosovo against ethnic Albanian rebels, Serb and Albanian sources said Sunday.
The latest action followed a strong Serb offensive against KLA rebels in central Drenica region. That offensive came as the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to the Serb crackdown and NATO finalized plans for airstrikes unless the fighting stops.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Defense Secretary William Cohen repeated warnings that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has only “a short period of time” to comply with international demands to end the conflict.
The separatists suffered defeats in southern Kosovo earlier this year, but apparently have regrouped. Police sources said the rebels recently kidnapped two Serbs, which prompted the new action.
The Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center said Serb forces were attacking from three directions near the towns of Suva Reka, Urosevac and Stimlje, southwest of Pristina. The attack focused on 11 villages, and three were on fire.
Some estimates have placed the number of civilians displaced by the fighting at 15,000. But an international aid official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that figure is probably exaggerated.