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At least 15 rebels killed in renewed Kosovo fighting
Two truce monitors wounded
January 15, 1999Web posted at: 1:25 p.m. EST (1825 GMT)
In this story:
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Serb forces clashed with ethnic Albanian rebels in heavy fighting in southern Kosovo on Friday, and Serb sources reported that at least 15 guerrillas were killed.
Elsewhere in the Serbian province, two international truce monitors were shot near Decani in the southwest, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
OSCE spokesman Mons Nyberg said in Vienna, Austria, that the wounds of the OSCE monitors were not life-threatening.
"It's not clear whether they were shot at or whether they were caught in the crossfire," another OSCE spokesman said.
It marked the first such incident involving international monitors, who are overseeing a shaky truce in the region.
The Serb-run media center, which is close to the Serb authorities, said at least 15 Kosovo Liberation Army fighters were killed in fighting in Racak and nearby Petrovo, just south of Stimlje and about 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of Pristina.
It said Serb police confiscated large quantities of arms and drove off the KLA rebels.
Quoting police sources in Pristina, the center said that the operation was aimed at a "terrorist group" that killed a policeman and attacked an army patrol in the area five days ago. The Yugoslav government regularly describes KLA rebels as terrorists.
Fears of 'widescale fighting'
The latest fighting came as NATO supreme commander Gen. Wesley Clarke said the alliance "was not going to permit a return to the village bashing" by Yugoslav and Serb forces seen in Kosovo last year.
In Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Clarke said Friday he was "very concerned about the situation in Kosovo."
"The longer the use of force goes on inside Kosovo the more intractable the problem is likely to become," Clarke said.
"There is a strong possibility, absent diplomatic agreement or some implicit understanding in the next six to eight weeks, that we will see resumption of very widescale fighting," he added.
Albania sees regional risk
Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko on Friday repeated fears that other Balkan nations might be sucked into the Kosovo conflict.
"I don't think this is only a risk for Albania but for all the region -- for Macedonia and Montenegro," he said.
KLA guerrillas have established bases inside northern Albania, close to the border with Kosovo, and western diplomats believe the rebels may try to launch a spring offensive against Serbian forces.
Asked to comment on Yugoslavia's charge that Albania was supporting "terrorism" by KLA fighters based in northern Albania, Majko said there were many arms in private hands in Albania, but this had nothing to do with the government.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.