• Heavy Serb military troops attacked north eastern Kosova villages today. Thousands of refugees... A large number of civilians feared dead... (KIC)
• Schoolteacher, Seriously Wounded in Obrançë, In Critical Condition (KIC)
• Fierce Fighting Erupts in Kosova (AP)
• Serb 'provocation' in Kosova (BBC)

From KLA Representatives...

• KLA DAILY INFORMATION NR.1
• KLA DAILY INFORMATION NR.2

Statements, viewpoints and analysis...

• President Rugova's Aid Calls for NATO Intervention in Kosova (KIC)
• Kosova Government Deplores "Brutal Offensive Carried out by FRY- Serb Forces' in Llapi Region of Kosova (KIC)

Serbian Shelling Stops, Grave Consequences Feared in Podujeva Area. Serbian forces machine-gunned a number of Albanian houses in Podujeva

PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - The LDK sources in the town of Podujeva said the shelling of Serbian military and police forces against a number of Albanian villages, launched earlier today (Sunday), stopped at around 14:00 hrs. The villages of Obrançë, Katunishtë ('Velika Reka'), Llapashticë, and Buricë, west of Podujeva, were shelled for several hours in a row.

Several Serb tanks and other Serb vehicles withdrew from Obrançë, but three to four tanks and a number of APCs were still inside the village, a couple of km west of Podujeva, sources said in mid- afternoon.

The consequences of the heavy Serb shelling is still by and large unknown. Killed and wounded are feared. The attacked area was blanketed with a dense fog today afternoon.

There is a ubiquitous Serb police presence in the town of Podujeva, home to 20,000 people, and in its outskirts. Serbian forces occupying the Besiana hotel, at the edge of
Podujeva, on the Prishtina-Podujeva highway leading to Nis (Serbia), have machine-gunned a number of Albanian houses of the Buçaj and Visoka family compounds in Podujeva. The houses of Isak Buçaj, Ramë Buçaj, Adem Buçaj, Osman Visoka, Shefki Visoka, and Ramë Visoka have been fired upon, LDK sources said. Shooting was reported also in the Albanian neighbourhood where the Serb church
is situated in Podujeva. Meanwhile, the Serb regime Media Center in Prishtina said a Serb, Dragoslav Zdravkovic (1936), was wounded today morning in the village of Katunishtë ('Velika Reka'). Reportedly, the Serb farmer was fired upon with automatic weapons. He responded by shooting back to the assailants, the Serb Center said.

The village of Obrançë is on the way to Katunishtë. Both villages were shelled by Serbian forces today. Agim Veliu, vice-chairman of the LDK chapter in Podujeva, told the KIC by phone several thousand Albanians - mostly women, children and elderly - have been forced to flee their homes in Buricë, Konushec, Gllamnik, Llapashticë, the outskirts of the town of Podujeva, Obrançë and Katunishtë ('Velika Reka') villages. Part of the displaced population have sought refuge in neighbouring villages, others are living rough in the wooded mountains, in a dramatic situation amidst freezing temperatures.
The local LDK official called on the international community to intervene militarily in Kosova. "Only such an intervention can save the people of Kosova from further Serbian massacres", Mr. Veliu said.

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Schoolteacher, Seriously Wounded in Obrançë, In Critical Condition (KIC)

The Albanian teacher is in desperate need of urgent medical treatment

PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - Mr. Remzi Demolli, a schoolteacher in the village of Obrançë, sustained serious wounds today (Sunday) during the Serbian offensive against this village, 2 km west of the northern town of Podujeva.

The wounded Albanian teacher is in a critical condition in the village of Llapashticë, local sources said. A doctor who gave Mr. Demolli the first aid said he had sustained life-threatening wounds and needed to be urgently taken to Prishtina for treatment. The doctor asked for help from Prishtina, because the roads have been closed off by Serbian forces.

The owner of a private ambulance told the KIC he was turned back by the Serb police when he tried to enter the town of Podujeva today. The only chance for the Albanian teacher wounded in his home to survive is for the International Red Cross or any other international humanitarian organization to step in.

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President Rugova's Aid Calls for NATO Intervention in Kosova (KIC)

PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - An energetic international intervention, including by NATO forces, may force the Belgrade regime to halt its aggression and ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosova, Mr. Xhemail Mustafa, press advisor to the President of the Republic of Kosova, said in a statement to the Kosova Information Center (KIC) Sunday
afternoon.

Mr. Mustafa noted that heavy Serb military and police forces attacked again today the villages of Obrançë and Llapashticë, in the municipality of Podujeva, using "tanks and other artillery pieces".

The fact that Serbian forces have been attacking the Llapi region for the fourth day in a row is evidence that the Belgrade regime is undermining and openly disregarding the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission (KVM), Mr. Mustafa said. In addition, "with this renewed aggressive action, whose tragic consequences are borne by the Albanian civilian population, the Serb regime is making a negotiating process between Prishtina and Belgrade on the political resolution of the Kosova issue impossible".

Xhemail Mustafa said there were indications that an agreement for a truce between the UçK (Kosova Liberation Army) and the Serbian forces would be reached under the mediation of the KVM's head, Ambassador Walker, so that the situation in Llapi region be calmed with a restoration of the cease-fire violated by the Serb troops
earlier this week. "Today's attack by Serbian forces is also directed against such a possibility, underscoring the unwillingness of the Belgrade regime to calm the situation and seek a political solution".

The Serb offensive against the Llapi region, in northern Kosova, as well as the ever increasing Serb forces' presence and provocations up and down Kosova, make it necessary that the international community intervene here, Rugova's aide said. "Only an intervention by NATO forces can force Belgrade give up its retaliatory operations against the Albanian civilian population on a large scale, halt its aggressive actions against the UçK positions, as well as the ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosova", Xhemail Mustafa said in a statement to the KIC.

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Kosova Government Deplores "Brutal Offensive Carried out by FRY- Serb Forces' in Llapi Region of Kosova (KIC)

PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - The Government of the Republic of Kosova "deplores the brutal offensive carried out by FRY-Serb forces", a statement referring to the unfolding Serbian offensive in northern Kosova, which was launched on 24 December, said.

Following is the text of today's statement signed by Dr. Bujar Bukoshi, Prime Minister of Kosova in exile:

"Once again, the victims of the entirely unjustifiable breach of the purported cease-fire are innocent civilians. Once again it is the civilians who must pay the price for the
misguided faith that has been placed in the word of Slobodan Milosevic. The renewed streams of refugees, fleeing from their villages as a direct result of systematic military operations, conducted as before as part of a pattern of terror, intimidation and ethnic
cleansing, must now trigger a forceful international response. The credibility of NATO, the OSCE and their member states has been challenged by this onslaught launched on Christmas Eve.

The Government of the Republic of Kosova, and, indeed, the population of Kosova, cannot be expected to continue cooperation with the international presence in Kosova, if the process of ethnic cleansing and terror is permitted to resume under the very eyes of the verification mission, in the harsh conditions of mid-winter. Decisive steps must now be taken to make it clear to Milosevic regime that it cannot pursue its brutal policy, in violation of clear commitments, without restraint and with impunity.
Otherwise the international effort in Kosova is doomed.

The hostilities must be terminated immediately, the heavy FRY forces must be withdrawn from Kosova territory, there must be immediate humanitarian access and the investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia must be permitted to operate without restraint.

These latest outrages also highlight the urgency with which genuine attempts to achieve an overall settlement to the question of Kosova must now be pursued. It must now be clear that the initiative proposed by Ambassador Hill cannot form the basis for a settlement, in as much as it has failed to attract the support of any of the parties to this conflict. The Government of the Republic of Kosova, for its part, remains eager and willing for real negotiations to commence, once the FRY has complied with the mandatory demands of the United Nations Security Council.

The Government of the Republic of Kosova remains willing to start immediate cooperation with an International Implementation Commission, to ensure compliance with these mandatory demands by all sides. Once compliance has been certified, international mediated negotiations between Kosova and FRY can commence in Geneva or at another appropriate venue outside former Yugoslavia. The American leading role in this process is indispensable. The Government of the Republic of Kosova has already made public the principles that will guide its delegation in such negotiations. These principles were formulated in a constructive spirit, which does not seek to impose preconditions upon the talks which must now begin without further delay."

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Fierce Fighting Erupts in Kosova (AP)

By MISHA SAVIC Associated Press Writer

OBRANCA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Serbian police and ethnic Albanian rebels waged a fierce battle Sunday around a guerrilla stronghold, exchanging fire with artillery, mortars and grenades in northern Kosova.

Police wearing flak jackets and helmets fired from trenches at the outskirts of Obranca village toward neighboring Lapastica - the Kosova Liberation Army stronghold that appears to be the main target of their four-day-old offensive.

The ethnic Albanians accused police of opening fire first on Sunday morning, but rebels were shooting back heavily.

The crackdown has resulted in the most serious clashes in the secessionist province since an October truce, despite the efforts of international monitors determined to prevent a return to full-scale war.

At least 10 ethnic Albanians have been reported killed in the offensive. The body of the latest victim, a 44-year-old man, was discovered Saturday night, the Kosova Information Center said.

Teams of international monitors were sent to the area of Sunday's shooting in rebel-controlled territory between Obranca and Lapastica, some 20 miles north of Pristina. The unarmed patrols generally keep clear of the combat.

One verifier near the scene of Sunday's clash characterized it as ``serious fighting.''

International monitors have talked to both sides in the fight over the ethnic Albanian-dominated province of Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia. Those efforts, and visits to the areas of conflict, appear to have helped prevent a complete breakdown of the shaky truce.

But Serb forces have refused to end their buildup in the rebel-held area. International officials, who still hold both sides responsible for the worsening violence, have strongly criticized the Serbs for responding with dozens of tanks to alleged provocations by the KLA.

Serb police said they would stay in Obranca, about a mile from Lapastica, until at least after the funeral later Sunday of a 65-year-old Serb farmer killed by the KLA on Saturday. The police took up positions behind his house and were firing from trenches there.

The farmer, one of the last Serb civilians in the predominantly ethnic Albanian village, was shot after he and his family opened fire on the rebels, a KLA commander was quoted as saying in the ethnic Albanian daily Koha Ditore on Sunday.

The top Serb official in Pristina said the farmer's death was ``another crime committed by Albanian terrorists whose aim is to make Kosova ethnically'' all-Albanian.

``State authorities are prepared to deal with all those jeopardizing the territorial integrity of our country,'' Zoran Andjelkovic told reporters.

The Kosova Information Center claimed Serb police are passing out weapons to Serb civilians in the region.

In a separate incident Sunday, the Serb-run Media Center said a 62-year-old villager from Velika Reka near Podujevo was shot at with automatic weapons and fired back on the ``terrorists.''

The rebels have acknowledged they are rearming and preparing for sustained fighting in order to gain freedom for Kosova.

A large group of armed ethnic Albanians was prevented from entering Kosova illegally from Albania late Saturday when Yugoslav army border guards fired on the ``attackers'' near the Vrbnica border outpost, the Media Center said. No casualties were reported.

International diplomacy that produced an October peace agreement has failed to achieve an agreement on Kosova's political status aimed at ending the conflict.

More than 1,000 people have been killed since Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic began an offensive against the rebels last February, driving some 300,000 were driven from their homes.

Hundreds have fled the latest fighting in the Podujevo region, walking for miles in sub-freezing temperatures and packing into houses already cramped with other refugees, sometimes dozens to the room.

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Serb 'provocation' in Kosova (BBC)

Sunday, December 27, 1998 Published at 02:13 GMT BBC

The top international official in Kosova has condemned an operation by Serbian security forces in the north of the province as a provocation.

Heavily armed police moved into a predominantly ethnic Albanian village in the Podujevo region following the killing of an elderly Serb man on the third day of clashes between Serbian security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in the area.

In a BBC interview, William Walker, who leads a mission by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said members of the Kosova verification mission were continuing efforts to persuade Serbs and ethnic Albanians to halt the violence.

"The government decided against our best advice to move the police into the village in considerable strength ... that's a bit of a provocations in itself since the village is all Albanians and all very angry and with their KLA army up in the hills above them."

"It's a very tricky situation," he said. "With unarmed verifiers it is not always easy to get them to stop shooting each other or looking for a fight."

The onset of more fighting is a blow to Mr Walker, who had urged Serbian and ethnic Albanian commanders on Friday to reinstate a cease-fire agreed two months ago which fell apart on Christmas Eve.

Nato has threatened air strikes on Belgrade if the terms of the truce are breached.

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Information Service Prishtinë, 24.12.1998

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