Скачать или смотреть ITALY: NATO WARPLANES AT AVIANO AIRBASE

(9 Jun 1999) English/Nat

There was clear evidence on Wednesday that NATO airstrikes against Serbian targets are continuing, with numerous sorties being flown out of Italy's Aviano airbase by NATO planes.

Earlier in the day German army chief of staff Hans-Peter von Kirchbach was reported as saying NATO had effectively halted its air strikes against Yugoslavia.

That statement was later discounted at the daily NATO briefing as nothing more than a bad choice of words on the part of General von Kirchbach.

While NATO bombing over Yugoslavia was less intense in the last 24 hours than it had been over the past two days, it's clear the airstrikes are continuing.

Numerous allied fighter-bombers were seen taking off from Aviano, their deadly payload of bombs and missiles clearly visible.

Alliance aircraft flew 523 sorties in the previous 24 hours, of which 130 were strike sorties and 56 were aimed at degrading the Yugoslav air defense system.

NATO has stressed the bombing will continue until there is a military agreement and clear evidence that President Milosevic has begun pulling his troops out of Kosovo.

Once the bombing stops, NATO planes will continue to fly over Kosovo to ensure the withdrawal is carried out.

All NATO manned aircraft taking part in the latest round of attacks returned safely, but the alliance did lose a drone aircraft.

In Kosovo, targets on day 77 of the campaign included eight artillery pieces, two armoured personnel carriers, eight tanks, and other military vehicles.

Facilities in Serbia that support the Serb forces in Kosovo were also hit, including an air defence post and military storage depots.

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