Refugees flee Macedonian onslaught

More than 50,000 refugees have fled the fighting

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonian troops continued their attack on ethnic Albanian rebels as hundreds of refugees head for the border.

Helicopter gunships and tanks rained fire on the village of Aracinovo, near the capital Skopje, for the second day but rebels have told CNN they are holding their positions.

As fighting continued on Saturday, the European Union's top envoy, Javier Solana, arrived in the country for the second time in as many days in an attempt to revive deadlocked peace talks.

He told the Associated Press news agency: "Our aim is always for the political dialogue to continue and to have stabilisation of the country."

MORE STORIES U.S. appeals for peace in region

The government broke an 11-day cease-fire on Friday with a heavy offensive against rebel positions north of the capital.

Solana has set a Monday deadline for progress towards an accord, but CNN's Juliette Terzieff said it was unlikely to be met.

AUDIO Journalist Juliette Terzieff: Truce completely shattered 1.14MB / 1.48 mins AIFF or WAV sound    IN-DEPTH Macedonia: Hurdles to peace   •  Balkan hotspots   •  Interactive map   •  Macedonia's military   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  In-Depth: Yugoslavia   •  In-Depth: Kosovo

She added that rebel leaders have told her that the assault on Aracinovo has not forced them from their positions in the village.

Helicopter gunships fired on Aracinovo for a second day and tanks slammed shells into Aracinovo, Reuters reported.

The fighting has prompted hundred of refugees to flee the area into Kosovo and southern Serbia, the United Nations refugee agency said.

More than 50,300 refugees had already arrived in Kosovo and another 5,000 fled to southern Serbia since fighting intensified earlier this year in Macedonia.

AP reported that five police were injured in an ambush by rebels in the village of Rasce, about 15 km from Skopje.

Macedonian state television also reported rebels hit a passenger train with machine gun fire outside Skopje, but no one was injured.

President Boris Trajkovski said on Friday that the offensive was intended to protect "vital centres of the capital and communications" used by NATO and the NATO-led peace force in Kosovo.

Trajkovski is pressing ethnic Albanian political leaders to accept his peace plan, which calls for amnesty for most rebels who disarm voluntarily and greater inclusion of ethnic Albanians in state bodies and institutions.

The most contentious issue has been changes to the constitution.

While the European Union has endorsed Trajkovski's plan, and NATO has promised troops to help supervise rebel disarmament if the two sides can reach an agreement, ethnic Albanian parties want more far-reaching changes.

Trajkovski's plans calls for the removal of references to ethnicity or religion and adding Albanian as a second state language.