USS Philippine Sea: File  ALSO Objective of the NATO airstrikes Albright: Milosevic a 'cruel dictator' Clinton appeals for peace; NATO prepares for more airstrikes NATO: Yugo ground troops may be targeted

March 26, 1999
Web posted at: 2:18 p.m. EST (1918 GMT)

In this story: More missiles to be fired Clinton briefed NATO: Ground troops may be targeted RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- A U.S. warship fired a cruise missile Friday in the first daytime attack in the three-day air campaign against Yugoslav military targets. Clinton administration sources said that daytime operations would be "limited."

CNN's Martin Savidge reported from aboard the USS Philippine Sea, a guided missile cruiser in the Adriatic Sea, that the ship's crew fired a single Tomahawk cruise missile about 2:20 p.m. (8:20 a.m. EST/1320 GMT).

"I can confirm that this strike has taken place," NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana told CNN later during a live interview from Brussels. He would not elaborate.

A short time after the missile was fired, air raid sirens went off in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, followed by an explosion at a potential military target on the edge of the city, witnesses said.

There was no damage in downtown Belgrade, they said.

More missiles to be fired

One purpose of the daytime missile attack was to take advantage of favorable weather before conditions deteriorated, Pentagon sources told CNN. Weather satellite pictures showed increasing cloudiness over the Balkan region, with rain expected overnight.

Pentagon sources indicated there would be more cruise missiles fired on Friday from B-52 bombers.

Separately, NATO officials said that allied aircraft had flown 400 sorties against Yugoslavia in the first two days of air operations and had struck 50 targets, all air defense and related facilities.

Bomb damage assessments are still being assembled, said Air Commodore David Wilby, briefing reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, but he did show aerial photos of a number of severely damaged targets.

Clinton briefed

President Clinton was briefed by his national security advisers, but the White House decided to limit access to him on Friday.

Reporters were not permitted into the beginning of the session, as they were on Thursday when there was a photo-opportunity and short question session.

Earlier Friday, Clinton took his explanation for the air assault directly to the country being attacked.

In a 15-minute videotaped message posted on the U.S. Information Agency's WORLDNET Web site and broadcast via satellite at 8:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. EST/0730 GMT) Clinton told the Yugoslav people the NATO attacks were aimed at the Belgrade government and its crackdown on ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo.

Albright tells the Yugoslav people, in a televised address, that NATO's quarrel is with Milosevic

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright taped a similar message of her own on Friday morning at the State Department. Albright, who was born in Czechoslovakia, made her comments in Serbo-Croatian, one of several languages she speaks.

"NATO's goal is not to hurt innocent people," she said.

In an interview with CNN earlier on Friday, Albright said there had been no word from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that he was ready to talk peace.

"Nothing positive" was coming from Milosevic through diplomatic channels that remain open, she said.

The White House played down fresh public statements by Italian and Greek officials suggesting it might be time to end the airstrikes. White House sources said both governments were privately offering reassurances they were supportive of the operation.

"We are sensitive and sympathetic to the domestic political pressures," one senior administration official told CNN.

Solana also told CNN there was no rift within the 19-nation NATO alliance.

NATO: Ground troops may be targeted

Clark has a long history with Milosevic, including time spent in negotiations with him at the Dayton peace talks for Bosnia in 1995

Also Friday, NATO's military leader told CNN that the long-range attack strategy will target Yugoslav ground troops once the air campaign weakens Yugoslavia's air defenses.

"We will do this ... as rapidly as we can," NATO Supreme Commander, Gen. Wesley Clark said without giving a specific timetable. "It's part of the campaign plan."

But Wilby denied reports that NATO already had attacked Yugoslav military barracks.

In his Web-posted taped message, Clinton said Milosevic could have avoided the NATO military strikes by accepting a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

He called on "all Serbs and all people of good will to join with us in seeking an end to this needless and avoidable conflict."

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