UK soldier killed in Macedonia

French troops guard a weapons collection point in the village of Otlja

SKOPJE, Macedonia (CNN) -- A British soldier has died in Macedonia after he was hit on the head by a piece of concrete thrown at his vehicle.

The death came hours before NATO troops began their operation to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels on Monday.

Ian Collins, 20, a sapper with the 9 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers, was driving on the outskirts of Skopje when the concrete block was thrown by a group of youths at 7.40 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Collins was taken to three different hospital sites in an effort to save his life -- first the KFOR base in Skopje, then a military hospital in Kosovo, and finally to a university hospital in Skopje where he died at 4.20 a.m on Monday.

The head of Operation Essential Harvest, Maj. Sgt. Gunnar Lange, called the incident "disgraceful and tragic."

IN-DEPTH Macedonia: Hurdles to peace   •  Balkan hotspots   •  Interactive map   •  Macedonia's military   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  In-Depth: Yugoslavia   •  In-Depth: Kosovo   AUDIO CNN's Walter Rodgers: The animosity facing NATO troops 950 KB / 1 min 28 secs WAV sound NLA commander Dren Korabi: ''We feel really sorry about it'' 1.99MB / 198 sec WAV sound   GALLERY NATO begins Macedonia mission     MORE STORIES Putin: NATO must block rebel arms   French Foreign Legion: Myth and fact     EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: NATO intervention in the Balkans      QUICKVOTE NATO intends to collect 3,300 weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia. Is this enough? Yes No View Results

CNN's Walter Rodgers said the attack may have been the result of animosity towards NATO and its mission.

''NATO is deeply resented and seen as having sided with the rebels against the Macedonian people,'' he said.

NATO began Operation Essential Harvest -- its 30-day mission to collect 3,300 weapons from rebels --on Monday, despite the death.

"This regrettable incident will not affect the resolve of Task Force Harvest to complete the mission," Brig. Barney White-Spunner said in a statement.

Dren Korabi, a commander of the rebel National Liberation Army, told CNN the NLA was ''very sorry'' to hear about the soldier's death. But he said the operation to hand over arms was going ahead as planned.

Macedonian government officials say NATO's figures for the number of weapons to be collected are unacceptable.

Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski called for renewed attacks against the rebels on Sunday after an explosion destroyed a motel in Celopek, near Macedonia's second city, Tetovo, killing two people. It was unclear who carried out the bombing.

He has called NATO's weapons collection target "ridiculous and humiliating" and says an operation on these terms will fail.

NATO's Major General Gunnar Lange, the mission's military commander, said the number of weapons the NLA had offered to hand over were very close to NATO's own estimates.

"There are no guarantees and the path will not be easy and the alternative is clear," Lange told The Associated Press. "The alternative is war."

In an apparent gesture of goodwill, rebels released eight hostages on Sunday. The International Committee of the Red Cross says it believes 18 others are still being held by the NLA.

The peace deal that ended six months of fighting between rebels and government forces involves rebels handing over weapons to NATO in exchange for political reforms in Macedonia.

One third of the weapons are to be handed over by August 31, when a key parliamentary meeting takes place to launch the procedures called for in the peace plan.

The Macedonian government has said it believes the insurgents have 85,000 weapons, while the rebels had put the number closer to 2,000.

An apparent bomb exploded in a rubbish bin outside a restaurant in a predominantly Albanian neighbourhood on Sunday. No-one was injured and it was not clear who had planted the device.