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The NATO peacekeeping force is expected to number 50,000  ALSO: NATO finds more horrors; Yugoslav troops push to meet deadline Ethnic tidal waves rush in and out of Kosovo  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  MILITARY PLAN:

Deployment going smoothly, commander says

June 15, 1999
Web posted at: 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT)

In this story: Pace picks up Deployment throughout night RELATED STORIES, SITES

Separately, the Clinton administration said Yugoslavia is on schedule to withdraw all its troops and police from a designated zone in southern Kosovo by midnight.

Russia, meanwhile, has given Washington assurances it would not add to the 200 soldiers it has sent to Pristina, the provincial capital. "We received assurances at a variety of levels," State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters in Washington.

The Russian deployment unsettled the allies and caused President Clinton to direct Defense Secretary William Cohen and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to schedule talks in Helsinki, Finland, later in the week with their Russian counterparts.

Pace picks up

Some 20,000 troops -- around half the Yugoslav force in Kosovo -- have left or are on their way out. As they withdraw, about 15,000 NATO peacekeepers have come in, part of an international force expected to number 50,000.

As of Tuesday, about 2,000 Americans are currently in Kosovo, the vanguard of a U.S. force eventually to total 7,000.

Units from the Army and Marines "are continuing to deploy into Kosovo, into our sector of operations, and it is going very well," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Bantz Johnson "John" Craddock.

"The movement across the (Macedonian) border ... was going very slowly yesterday (Monday). That has picked up considerably today (Tuesday)," he said.

Deployment throughout night

Craddock, commander of the U.S. peacekeeping force in Kosovo, briefed reporters during a conference call at the Pentagon. He spoke from the Macedonian capital of Skopje.

He said the deployment of U.S. forces -- called Task Force Falcon -- "will continue throughout the night (and) well into tomorrow (Wednesday)."

News Highlights: Gallery: The conflict in review News story archive Yugoslavia's Future: What's next for Yugoslavia Map: Who controls what The Peace Settlement: A guide to the peace plan Map: Serb troop withdrawal The Military Campaign: Strike damage assessment Atlas: NATO and the Balkans Background: Timeline: Trouble in the Balkans A who's who of key players Map: Kosovo and its neighbors A history of the KLA

It would probably be Thursday before all U.S. peacekeepers are in place in Kosovo, Craddock said.

The duties of the U.S. peacekeepers, he said, will include meeting with local officials in Kosovo in an attempt to defuse "delicate situations as much as possible."

In related developments on Tuesday: