NATO puts more aircraft into Yugoslav campaign

Officials say the U.S. can fly more bombers like this B-52 from bases in Britain RELATED VIDEO CNN's Brent Sadler reports on Yugoslavia's claim that a warplane was shot down Saturday, March 27 Windows Media 28K 80K   To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery. Quicktime Movie: NATO releases video of airstrikes 1.6M / 21 sec. / 240x180  ALSO: NATO, British leaders allege 'genocide' in Kosovo Primakov to try to halt NATO bombings NATO stealth missions continue after crash Russia: NATO strikes hurting relations with U.S. Clinton: NATO must keep up air campaign Anti-NATO protests in Australia, Austria, Russia Report: Police detain suspects in embassy shooting  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo

March 28, 1999
Web posted at: 8:38 a.m. EST (1338 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- NATO is putting more planes into its attacks on Yugoslavia, British officials said Sunday.

The Royal Air Force will commit another 12 combat planes and a tanker to the allied action in the Balkans, and the U.S. Air Force has been given permission to fly more B-52 heavy bombers out of British air bases, British Defense Secretary George Robertson said.

Those planes will be part of NATO's attempt to stop attacks on ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo, he said.

The British commitment includes eight Tornado fighter-bombers, four additional Harrier ground attack planes and a tanker, Robertson said. The combat planes will be ready to participate in NATO attacks by Monday.

The announcement came a day after NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, was given permission to attack Yugoslav troops in the field south of Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital. Robertson said the allies have new reports of attacks in Kosovo from refugees and international aid workers, and he said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic bore the responsibility for the violence.

"We are increasingly swinging our attention to the military thugs that are causing so much misery and suffering directly at Milosevic's orders," he said.

Meanwhile, the pilot of a U.S. F-117 stealth fighter that crashed near Belgrade was rescued, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon confirmed that the plane had gone down -- the first NATO plane lost in the four-day bombing campaign, according to NATO. The pilot was rescued by an American search-and-rescue team, he said.

Bacon said U.S. officials do not know yet whether the plane was shot down or crashed for some other reason.

Phase two designed to 'increase cost' for Milosevic

NATO announced Saturday that it was moving to the second phase of its air campaign against Yugoslavia, with a new emphasis on low-altitude attacks on tanks and heavy weapons on the ground in Kosovo.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that NATO's strategy in the second phase of the air campaign is "to make sure that we do make it very difficult for the Yugoslav army to support the repression in Kosovo and that we increase the cost of Milosevic of doing that."

In Washington, White House and State Department officials said the decision to go to phase two had been part of NATO's plan from the beginning of the air campaign and was not a reaction to reports of stepped-up attacks on ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo.

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana ordered the move to the second phase after consultations with ambassadors from the 19 NATO countries.

A NATO military source told CNN that commanders believe that the first three days of airstrikes damaged Yugoslav air defense to a "sufficient level" to go to the second phase of the campaign with "minimal risk" to NATO personnel.

NATO planes to go lower, slower

The attacks called for in phase two -- which could present more danger to NATO pilots, who will be flying lower and more slowly -- will be carried out primarily in Kosovo and areas just to the north of the province, Shea said. But he said attacks on air defenses and other military facilities would continue in other parts of Yugoslavia.

On Saturday, NATO launched a fourth day of air attacks in Yugoslavia. A series of loud explosions could be heard in Belgrade, though the detonations appeared to be well outside the city.

The location where Yugoslav officials said the F-117 was shot down is not in the area where NATO officials said the second phase of the air operation would be concentrated. Bacon said its mission was planned before NATO made its decision to change the emphasis of the air campaign.

Fleeing refugees tell of violence

On Saturday, thousands more Albanian refugees left Kosovo and poured into neighboring Albania and Macedonia, telling of forced roundups and expulsions. Independent confirmation of those reports was difficult because most international journalists and observers have been expelled from Kosovo by the Serbian government.

A village in Kosovo just north of Macedonia was on fire Saturday, and residents who fled across the border told CNN's Chris Burns that police had ordered them to leave their homes within two hours or be killed.

Cook told CNN that NATO officials have received reports of "severe fighting" inside Kosovo, and he warned Yugoslav officials that they would be held responsible for attacks on civilians.

"Those who carry out those acts should know that what they're doing is committing a war crime. They will be held accountable for it, and it will not just be the field commanders," Cook said. "Any political leaders we find who have ordered that type of behavior will also be held to account."

Much of Podujevo reported burning

Shea said there were unconfirmed reports that Yugoslav army and special police units were going door to door in north and central Kosovo, taking men from their homes.

A large part of Podujevo -- just north of Pristina, Kosovo's provincial capital -- was reportedly burning, he said.

British Secretary of Defense George Robertson accused Milosevic of cracking down harder on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

"We have heard that some villages do not exist," Robertson said.

NATO unmoved by KLA's plea for ground troops

The separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, the target of the Yugoslav crackdown in Kosovo, called on NATO Saturday to send ground troops.

"We welcome the (NATO) strikes, but we demand that NATO ground troops come to Kosovo as quickly as possible," a KLA spokesman said at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

But NATO leaders, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, have made it clear there are no plans to introduce ground troops in a combat role. In his remarks to CNN, Cook reiterated that stand.

"We are not capable, we do not have the capacity in theater, and we do not have the intention of committing ground troops. To assemble the expeditionary force to fight its way in would in itself probably be a matter of several months, and we are not intending to undertake that exercise," he said.

In Washington, Bacon released a statement saying the United States "has no intention of sending ground troops to fight in Kosovo, and the Department of Defense is not doing any planning that would enable such a deployment."

Milosevic asks for 'all necessary assistance'

On state television Saturday, Milosevic lambasted the NATO attacks and called for international support.

"It is the duty of all free countries to stand up to the military despotism of NATO, led by the United States, which is destroying the United Nations system and represents the most serious threat to international peace and security since World War II," Milosevic said.

He had met with the Ukrainian defense and foreign ministers, who came to Belgrade to try to mediate Yugoslavia's standoff with the West.

"As an attacked country, Yugoslavia should get all necessary assistance," added the defiant Yugoslav leader, alluding to traditional allies of Serbs, including Russia and Ukraine.

Montenegrin leaders urge Milosevic to back down

But President Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, one of the two republics that make up the Yugoslav federation, called on Milosevic Saturday to resume peace talks with the Kosovar Albanians.

After Djukanovic met with his Cabinet in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, the leadership issued a statement that "conflict with the world, which has kept Yugoslavia isolated, is no policy for the future of our people and our state."

Djukanovic has been a longtime critic of Milosevic, but he also called on NATO to end the air offensive. Although Montenegro declared neutrality in the dispute, military targets in Montenegro have been bombed.

Clinton: Kosovo violence shows need for strikes

In his weekly radio address to the American people Saturday, Clinton said the increased Serb offensive in Kosovo was even more reason for NATO allies to "stay the course" and continue the air attacks on Yugoslav targets.

Clinton spoke by telephone Saturday with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy to discuss events in Yugoslavia.

NATO officials say the bombings will continue until Milosevic accepts a proposed peace plan for Kosovo, or until NATO considers the Yugoslav armed forces so reduced that they will not be able to carry on attacks in Kosovo.

Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Brent Sadler, Chris Burns, Chris Black, Jeanne Meserve and Patricia Kelly contributed to this report.

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