(8 Mar 2001) English/Nat

Macedonian troops drove ethnic Albanian gunmen from their stronghold on the border with Kosovo on Thursday, the defence ministry said.

American troops in Debelde confirmed the insurgents had fled, taking their weapons with them.

The fighting started before dawn near the village of Tanusevac which straddles the Kosovo-Macedonian border when about 50 ethnic Albanian guerrillas attacked Macedonian troops, unleashing horses ahead of them to see if the area was mined, Macedonian defence ministry spokesman, Blagoja Markovic said.

Macedonian troops responded "with force" and managed to "break them up" in all directions, Markovic added.

After sunrise, U-S. troops entered parts of the village, which the Albanians call Mijak, on the Kosovo side of the border, U-S K-F-O-R spokesman Maj. James Marshall said. They found trenches and observation positions but no guerrillas or equipment, Marshall added.

He denied that American soldiers had crossed into Macedonia.

"The operation is completed and we will keep a presence here in the future to make sure these groups do not use Kosovo as a safe haven," Marshall told reporters along the border.

He also said that U-S K-F-O-R troops heard mortar fire during the night as well as some small arms fire.

Ethnic Albanian rebel activity in northern Macedonia and in the nearby Presevo Valley of southern Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic, has raised fears of a new Balkan war.

Although the rebels have not spelled out their goals, it is assumed they are fighting for self rule in areas near Kosovo which have large ethnic Albanian populations.

Albanians make up about 25 percent of Macedonia's 2 million people.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
" This morning the K-F-O-R soldiers , both U-S and Polish, Ukrainian moved in to the final buildings of Mijak where we suspected these armed extremists had their headquarters and their base of operations. We entered the building trench line and the rocky outcrop they used as an observation point over the area and the area have been abandoned, no weapons have been found. This is a successful conclusion to our operation. We have achieved the objectives which were to eliminate this part of Kosovo as a safe haven for these armed groups, secondly to restore safe and secure environment to Kosovo and third resolve this peacefully.
SUPER CAPTION: Major James Marshall, U-S K-F-O-R

SOUNDBITE: (English)
" We made attempts to negotiate with these individuals, both The Albanian and Macedonian, and sometime during the night a group 20-40 of these individuals left the area. Also during the night, on two separate occasions, we heard the mortar attacks. One about 1230 which is about twelve rounds of mortar fire and again about 430 about 3 rounds of mortar fire. This occurred along the Macedonian border and we were able to pick it up on our target acquisition radar. Additionally we have also heard some small arms fire during the night.
SUPER CAPTION: Major James Marshall, U-S K-F-O-R

SOUNDBITE: (English)
" As a result of this operation we have increased our operations along the border and we are now in the process of identifying other locations along the border to insure that they do not move their operation to other area of Kosovo.
SUPER CAPTION: Major James Marshall, U-S K-F-O-R

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