Rebels clash in Yugoslavia

Ethnic Albanian rebels used the buffer zone as a safe haven

BUJANOVAC, Yugoslavia -- Ethnic Albanian guerrillas have clashed with Yugoslav forces in the Kosovo border region, the government says.

The fighting on Sunday comes one day before NATO is due to decide whether Yugoslav troops will be allowed into the entire buffer zone between Kosovo and Serbia proper.

Yugoslav forces were banned from the buffer zone as part of the Kosovo conflict ceasefire conditions but earlier this year they were allowed back into parts of the border area.

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The government's news centre in Bujanovac said Albanian fighters fired mortars at Yugoslav security forces.

A spokesman for the rebel Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB), said there was brief clashes on Sunday.

Neither side have reported any casualties.

The UCPMB emerged in the buffer zone in early 2000 using it as a safe haven for attacks on Serb forces.

In an attempt to quell the rebels NATO has allowed Yugoslav troops to return to the buffer zone section by section.

And on Monday NATO is to decide whether Yugoslav forces can enter Sector B - a strip of land east of Kosovo.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, told the AP news agency: "Ethnic Albanian extremists are trying to delay the return of our forces (to Sector B) with armed provocation."

On Saturday, a 13-year-old ethnic Albanian girl suffered serious head injuries in the clashes between government forces and the UCPMB in the village of Oraovica, just outside the buffer zone.

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NATO in Kosovo
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

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