Macedonian forces shell villages

Macedonian police on patrol near Skopje

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonian forces have launched artillery attacks on ethnic Albanian rebels in three villages.

Artillery shells were fired at the rebels' position on Friday, but ceased after six volleys, the Associated Press reported.

The shelling of Slupcane, Orizare and Vaksince, in the Kumanovo region, came less than a day after a government deadline for the ethnic Albanian rebels to lay down their arms had passed.

There were no reports of casualties.

Macedonian military spokesman Colonel Blagoja Markovski told the news agency the attacks were aimed as thwarting rebel forces from launching "offensive actions against Macedonian troops."

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's new coalition government had set a deadline of noon on Thursday for rebels to surrender. If not, the government had threatened to "eliminate" the insurgents.

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Authorities warned villagers to use the ceasefire as an opportunity to be able to safely leave the area before the army takes "decisive action" against the rebels.

Macedonian police said an estimated 1,500 initially left the area, though reporters in the field and international aid groups could not confirm any large-scale civilian outflow.

Numbers have apparently since dried up. A government source told Reuters: "It's nothing like it was yesterday."

Only 100 are believed to have left on Friday -- leaving up to 3,000 villagers in Slupcane and an unknown number in Vaksince.

International pressure was also placed on the government by nations concerned that large-scale fighting in Macedonia could spill over into neighbouring countries.

NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson urged the multi-ethnic unity government to press ahead with reforms empowering the ethnic Albanian minority.

Such reforms would "undermine the political agenda of the gunmen," he said.

Last week, all main political parties in Macedonia formed a unity government in a bid to find a political solution to the crisis.

Robertson's views were echoed by Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, speaking on behalf of the European Union.

Ethnic Albanians make up about one-third of Macedonia's two million people.

The rebels have demanded that Macedonia's constitution be rewritten to upgrade their people's minority status, but the government accuses them of attempting "to split the population by triggering civil war."

He said the government was seeking to find a "long-term solution and avoid unnecessary bloodshed."