The Macedonian army on Monday launched an artillery attack on a village held by ethnic Albanian guerrillas despite a rebel threat to lob mortars on to the capital Skopje if the government offensive in the north does not cease.
The army opened heavy fire on the northern village Slupcane at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) with artillery and tanks, ignoring the threat by Commander Hoxha, leader of a rebel force estimated at up to 800 fighters in the Skopje suburb of Aracinovo, to mortar bomb the capital if the army did not let up.
Commander Hoxha told AFP by telephone he was throwing down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski to stop an army push on rebel-held villages north of Skopje or see mortar rounds land on his capital for the first time in the four-month crisis, which has threatened a new Balkans bloodbath.
"I have launched an ultimatum to Georgievski. He has until tomorrow (Monday) morning to stop the bombardments. They are razing the houses in the villages.
"I will start attacking police stations and the airport, the government and parliament, everything I can with our 120 mm mortars. We don't have many but they are effective. We will attack from the mountains.
"We are not very good shots but we can easily hit the airport," he said, warning there could be civilian casualties.
Military sources say that a 120 mm mortar could fire at a range of up to eight kilometres (five miles), which would put the centre of the capital within firing distance.
One Western diplomat in Skopje said the rebels could probably not hit the airport or the city centre from their current positions, although they could "undoubtedly take out the main road to the airport," an important logistical hub for NATO's peacekeeping operations in UN-administered Kosovo.
He said if the rebels do start lobbing shells into the edges of Skopje the Macedonia army will have to "reconsider its tactics." -- SKOPJE (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
