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NATO: 40 targets hit in Yugoslavia in 24 hours
Yugoslavia: At least 10 civilians killed, 60 wounded
March 25, 1999
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO Supreme Commander Gen. Wesley Clark said Thursday that NATO forces hit 40 ground targets and destroyed three Yugoslav Air Force planes in the first wave of "Operation Allied Force" in Yugoslavia. NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana (sound ) , speaking at a joint news conference with Clark, said the NATO mission would continue as long as Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic continued the crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. In Washington, U.S. President Bill Clinton said that if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic does not "choose peace," NATO attacks will continue. "He has to choose peace or we have to limit his ability to make war," Clinton said prior to receiving a briefing from his national security advisers. The Yugoslav government said Thursday that at least 10 civilians were killed and more than 60 wounded in the NATO bombings, which started off with cruise missiles and bombs. The NATO mission was launched at nightfall Wednesday to punish Milosevic and his armed forces for the continued attacks on ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Clark said no NATO planes were lost in the first wave of massive NATO attacks, rejecting Belgrade's claim to have shot down one NATO fighter jet. He also said that Belgrade was not bombed in the first wave. The NATO operation has some key aims, Clark told the news conference: (sound )
In NATO's first damage assessment at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Clark said the allied aircraft on Wednesday had primarily targeted Yugoslav air defense installations and command and control facilities. Earlier Thursday, Yugoslav authorities said damage had been extensive. "We are now confronted with great damage done to city and factories. (A) great number of civilian casualties -- more than 10 civilians (were) killed, and over 60 civilians who are seriously injured," Yugoslav Federal Minister Goran Matic told CNN. "About an hour ago (11 a.m. in Yugoslavia, 5 a.m. EST), there were new attacks on communication systems, near or in Belgrade itself. Our hospitals and doctors are doing everything they can to help the victims. This is a real truth of what's happening in Yugoslavia," he said. Yugoslavia's Deputy Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic (sound ), speaking in an interview with CNN Thursday, said his country was the "victim of aggression." He said Belgrade supported a peaceful solution for Kosovo on the basis of "full equality" for all citizens in the Serbian province. In Pristina, the provincial capital of Kosovo, Daloni Carlisle of the International Committee of the Red Cross said air raid sirens had gone off and plumes of smoke could be seen northeast of the city Thursday afternoon. Correspondents Carl Rochelle, Brent Sadler and Christiane Amanpour contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: NATO: Forty targets hit in Yugoslavia RELATED SITES: Independent Yugoslav radio station B92
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