Скачать или смотреть KOSOVO: SERB FORCES BLAST ETHNIC ALBANIANS WITH MORTAR FIRE

(30 Jun 1998) Natural Sound

Serb forces blasted ethnic Albanian separatists with mortar fire on Tuesday, trying to dislodge them from a strategic Kosovo coal mine.

Serb police kept access blocked to the besieged area around Belacevac, 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

The mine, which supplies coal to two power plants, was seized by Albanian separatists last week.

Fierce fighting is under way in the area surrounding the strategic Belacevac mine.

It's the second day of the Serb security forces' assault on the mine.

And the fast-growing Kosovo Liberation Army is not going to let the Serbs regain control of the mine without a fight.

Heavy mortars and other artillery echoes in the distance.

Clouds of black smoke billow from two locations.

Serb forces have been training heavy firepower on the area around the mine.

Throughout the day, Serb tanks rolled up to the edge of a ridge overlooking Belacevac, firing into the village, then rapidly disappearing.

Throughout the surrounding hills, police snipers, cannons and mortars - well-camouflaged in the lush green hills - have all been firing on the KLA-held area.

After a 24-hour bombardment of the area, Serb forces ceased their fire about six in the morning, then resumed it a few hours later after changing their positions.

The Belacevac open-pit mine fell to the ethnic Albanians' Kosovo Liberation Army last week.

The mine is strategically important because it supplies coal to two power stations which provide electricity for the province of Kosovo and the rest of the national grid throughout Serbia.

Despite the Serb army assault, Albanian separatist soldiers - like this one - are determined to fight on.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This is my homeland, I live here and I will die here if I have to"
SUPER CAPTION: K-L-A soldier

The fighting came as international envoys urged the two sides to seek a diplomatic solution.

Now negotiators fear the Serb assault will trigger a K-L-A military response on a scale which will destroy all hopes of finding a solution to the region's troubles.

The K-L-A claims control of up to 40 percent of Kosovo.

Until recently regarded as a terrorist organisation, it is increasingly supported by the ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population.

The fighting sent thousands of villagers streaming to neighbouring Albania.

Ethnic Albanians, mostly women and children, fled the besieged area, crowded onto tractors and trucks.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, human rights groups accused the Serbs of rape and other war crimes in the conflict this year.

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