New front opens in Macedonia

Macedonian forces back in control of Aracinovo. The U.S. flag was left by ethnic Albanian rebels.

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Macedonian security forces have started shelling a village held by ethnic Albanian rebels in the northeast of the country.

The shelling of Nikustak could be heard from newly-liberated Aracinovo as police units searched homes in the village, looking for any rebels who had stayed behind after a withdrawal brokered by the European Union.

Ethnic Albanian rebels were escorted from Aracinovo under NATO escort on Monday prompting riots in the capital, Skopje, by Slav nationalists, angry that the rebels were allowed to kept their weapons.

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CNN's Nic Robertson, the only Western journalist in Aracinovo, said that as police fanned out through the village and carried out the house-to-house searches, shelling could be heard from Nikustak.

He said up to 70 per cent of the houses in Aracinovo had been damaged by the three-day assault last week.

Reuters reported heavy artillery and tank fire struck the village of Nikustak and that reinforcements had been deployed at an army position outside Umin Dol village.

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Army spokesman Blagoja Markovski told Reuters there had been fighting near Nikustak overnight.

"The terrorists tried to attack our positions after setting a field on fire and using the smoke as cover," he said. "We returned the fire fiercely and forced them to retreat."

There was also sporadic fighting reported in Tetovo overnight although the city -- Macedonia's second largest -- was said to be quiet by dawn.

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The EU has urged Macedonians to step back from violence following riots on Monday and the UK government has warned its citizens not to travel to the region, while the U.S. has issed a similar warning and evacuated non-essential staff from its embassy.

"We are advising against all travel to Macedonia," a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London told the Press Association.

"British nationals living in Macedonia may wish to consider leaving the country until the current situation calms down."

A travel warning issued in the U.S. said: "Amid a climate of rising anti-foreigner sentiment, there has been an increase in acts of intimidation and violence against American citizens in Macedonia."

It said citizens already in the country should review their security situation.

The advisory noted that armed clashes between Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian extremists made the situation in the country "unsettled and potential dangerous."

Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency has issued an appeal for an additional $17.5 million to be ready for "a worst-case scenario."

Thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees are fleeing to Kosovo

Up to 100,000 people have fled the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia since the conflict with rebel ethnic-Albanians began in February.

"UNHCR must be prepared for a worst-case scenario, even though it is not too late for a peaceful solution to be found," said Eric Morris, special envoy for the region for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

A statement issued by the Geneva headquarters of UNHCR said more than 65,000 Macedonian refugees were in Kosovo, 6,000 were in Serbia and at least 30,000 were displaced inside Macedonia.

"The funds requested would enable UNHCR to support the many thousands of host families that have taken in the refugees," the agency said. It will also provide food and other assistance to the affected population."

More than 8,300 people crossed the border into Kosovo on Sunday -- the highest number since early May -- said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.

The number fell to just over 800 people on Monday but aid workers were "geared up for more arrivals amid reports of continued tension," after the riots in Skopje on Monday, he said.