(3 Jun 2001)
Matejce village
1. Wide shot of tanks on the move
2. Wide shot of village with smoke rising
3. Mid shot of tank firing
4. Wide shot of shell hitting house
5. Wide shot of tank firing
6. Wide shot of shell hitting roof of house
7. Mid shot of Macedonian APC on the road
8. Helicopter firing rockets
9. Rocket hits house on the hill
10. Various of helicopter firing flares
11. Wide shot of shells hitting houses in village
12. Wide shot of helicopter overflying village
13. WS of village with smoke rising
14. SOUNDBITE: (Macedonian) Ljuben Boskovski, Macedonian Interior Minister
"At this moment the most important thing for Macedonia is return of the peace. But, despite all efforts by the Macedonian political parties and the international community to pursued terrorists to lay down their weapons didn't bring any results, so it leaves us with no other options but to kick them out from our territory in order to restore the peace in this area."
15. Tank passes by and leaves village
STORYLINE:
In its efforts to regain the village of Matejce from ethnic Albanian rebels, the Macedonian army on Sunday bombarded northern frontline villages.
Two tanks positioned directly in front of Matejce shelled suspected rebel positions above the village, which sits at the bottom of a hill in the north of the Balkan country.
Army helicopter gunships also pounded northern rebel positions and ground troops fought insurgents at close quarters Sunday as the president prepared to discuss his peace offer with leading politicians in the government coalition.
Military officials told Macedonian television that the troops used their «entire combat arsenal, including the helicopters,» responding to rebel attacks from the northern villages of Matejce and Slupcane.
The two villages appear to be key strongholds of the militants in the area.
Macedonian security troops have managed to regain control of few other villages, but the rebels remain dug into several more.
Faced with Western pressure to end the rebellion, Macedonia's leaders have signaled their readiness to offer concessions to the rebels in exchange for peace.
Macedonia's prime minister said last week that his government was ready to change the constitution to upgrade the status of the ethnic Albanians, a key rebel demand.
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