- Title: MACEDONIA: FIGHTING CONTINUES IN HILLS ABOVE TETOVO.
- Date: 19th March 2001
- Summary: TETOVO, MACEDONIA (MARCH 18, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV/GV: DUSK/ NIGHT SHOTS OF BURNING BUILDINGS IN THE HILLS ABOVE TETOVO, AUDIO OF GUNFIRE (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. LV: FLASHES AS SHELLS EXPLODE ON A HILL ABOVE THE TOWN 0.17 3. LV/GV: TRACER FIRE PASSING OVER THE CITY AND INTO THE HILLS (3 SHOTS) 0.39 4. LV/GV/PAN: MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING THROUGH TOWN (2 SHOTS) 0.57 5. LV/GV: MORE TRACER FIRE IN THE NIGHT SKY (2 SHOTS) 1.25 6. GV: VARIOUS OF TOWN, AUDIO OF GUNFIRE 1.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TETOVO, MACEDONIA
- Country: Macedonia
- Reuters ID: LVAE6I1BDGYY1Z48FPBTF74B5ILL
- Story Text: Macedonian forces continued to pour heavy gunfire into
the hills above Tetovo on Sunday night, keeping up the
pressure on ethnic Albanian rebel positions.
The night shooting came at the end of a day when
Macedonia said it was preparing to fight the guerillas on the
ground, the get them out of the hills and make the Macedonian
towns that have been under seige for the past five days safe
to return to.
Macedonia's prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski, said the
army was using heavy artillery and tanks on Sunday (March 18)
to battle ethnic Albanian guerrillas near the northern border
with Kosovo, as well as fighting them near the northwestern
town of Tetovo.
Georgievski's words came as a surprise because police
entered parts of the northern border area 10 days ago, after
the guerrillas left. A Macedonian security source flatly
denied the army had used tanks and artillery in the north.
His remarks appeared to reflect the increasing unease of
the coalition government, which includes a moderate ethnic
Albanian party, threatened by the emergence of a much more
radical force.
Clashes between Macedonian security forces and the
guerrillas have been raging since Wednesday in the hills near
the town of Tetovo in the northwest of the Balkan state.
Georgievski said he was convinced that the United States
and Germany knew the identities of guerrilla leaders. "If they
acted stronger, those chiefs would be stopped from launching
the aggression against our state."
pj/aj
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