YUGOSLAVIA/MACEDONIA: KFOR SOLDIERS MONITOR AREAS ALONG SHAR PLANINA MOUNTAIN SUSPECTED OF BEING ARMS SMUGGLING ROUTE FOR ETHNIC ALBANIANS

Record ID: 648299

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA/MACEDONIA: KFOR SOLDIERS MONITOR AREAS ALONG SHAR PLANINA MOUNTAIN SUSPECTED OF BEING ARMS SMUGGLING ROUTE FOR ETHNIC ALBANIANS
  • Date: 24th March 2001
  • Summary: KOSOVO-MACEDONIA BORDER, NEAR MIJAK (MARCH 24, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE VIEW KFOR SOLDIERS ON KOSOVO-MACEDONIA BORDER NEAR MIJAK 0.05 2. SCU: KFOR SOLDIER LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS, OBSERVING MACEDONIAN POSITIONS 0.10 3. LONG VIEW MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS 0.15 4. SV:KFOR SOLDIERS AT LOOKOUT POINT 0.20 5. CU: KFOR SOLDIER AIMING RIFLE 0.26 6. VARIOUS KFOR HELICOPTER, CARRYING SUPPLIES, LANDING (3 SHOTS) 0.45 7. SLV: KFOR SOLDIER LOOKING AT SUPPLIES 0.51 8. SV: SOLDIER / KFOR HELICOPTER IN BACKGROUND 0.58 9. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. KFOR SECOND LIEUTENANT DAVID HODGES, SAYING: "Right now I have not seen anybody cross the border, any kind of armed people. In the past there have been reports of people crossing the border and we have moved to interdict them. Right now nobody has crossed the border." 1.12 10. SV: KFOR SOLDIER LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS 1.19 11. LONG VIEW OF TANK IN THE DISTANCE 1.25 12. VARIOUS AERIAL VIEWS OF SHAR PLANINA - THE MOUNTAIN ROUTE BETWEEN KOSOVO AND MACEDONIA (7 SHOTS) 2.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KOSOVO-MACEDONIA BORDER, NEAR MIJAK
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA51US2SZ661CG9A0KC70FO8K18
  • Story Text: KFOR soldiers have been monitoring positions along the
    mountain Shar Planina, near the Kosovo-Macedonia border,
    suspected of being an arms smuggling route for ethnic Albanian
    rebels.


    KFOR soldiers took journalists to the Kosovo-Macedonia
    border on Saturday (March 24) to a mountain called Shar
    Planina, the route which ethnic Albanian guerrillas are
    suspected of using to smuggle arms and fighters into
    Macedonia.

    KFOR soldiers manned an observation point near the border,
    equipped with military vehicles and machine guns. Macedonian
    troops could be viewed in positions across the border.

    U.S. KFOR Second Lieutenant, David Hodges said he had not
    seen any armed persons cross the mountainous border.

    "In the past there have been reports of people crossing the
    border and we have moved to interdict them. Right now nobody
    has crossed the border," he added.

    Throughout Saturday tank, mortar and cannon fire echoed
    over hills near Macedonian's border with Kosovo and huge
    columns of smoke rose into the sky as government troops
    pounded ethnic Albanian rebel positions.

    The battle, out of sight of reporters who were prevented
    from entering the area, appeared to be intensifying on the
    11th day of fighting in Macedonia, despite international
    demands for restraint by both sides.

    All country roads leading towards the Macedonian village of
    Gracani, which was occupied by guerrillas last Thursday (March
    22), were sealed off by heavily armed police manning
    roadblocks.

    Local farmers said the smoke appeared to be rising from a
    slope between the villages of Kuckovo and Gracani.

    The area lies about 20 km (13 miles) south of Kacanik, the
    last town in Kosovo before the Macedonian border, just a few
    km (miles) from the Skopje to Pristina highway and the Blace
    border crossing.

    U.S. peacekeepers are responsible for the border running
    to the east.





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