A NATO bomb missed its target and left a crater in the middle of the road in Cuprija, Yugoslavia RELATED VIDEO Watch Defense Department video of a television-guided bomb striking a bridge 3.4 MB / 45 sec. / 240x180 1.4 MB / 45 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript How effective are NATO's military capabilities? CNN's Jamie McIntyre takes a look (April 9) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Betsy Aaron: Russia sending mixed messages about the NATO mission (April 9) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Correspondent Jonathan Aiken shows how Serbian television is covering the Kosovo conflict (April 9) Real 28K 80K 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.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY: Burning flags and rock concerts: Protesting the NATO strikes Devastation of Kosovo capital The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO Serb media battles NATO with scenes of destruction Serbs reportedly planting land mines to create Kosovo 'no man's land' Yeltsin warns of possible world war over Kosovo U.S. casts doubt on Cuban base as refugee site Clinton: Yugo peace claim is 'illusion'  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo  MAPS NATO officials describe attacks from day one through day sixteen

April 10, 1999
Web posted at: 3:18 a.m. EDT (0718 GMT)

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- NATO appears to have struck its first blow against what it says is Yugoslavia's propaganda machine with reports a television transmitter was knocked out Saturday.

The transmitter for the country's official RTS television channel was reportedly hit near Pristina, the provincial capital of Kosovo. Tanjug, Yugoslavia's official news agency, said broadcasts were cut to many viewers in the province.

CNN's Bill Hemmer reported that NATO officials claimed Saturday that the transmitter was also being used to communicate with Serb ground troops and was a legitimate target.

Hemmer, reporting from the Aviano air base in Italy -- the main staging post for airstrikes -- said a handful of flights departed Saturday morning (local time), apparently on missions to Yugoslavia.

There was no independent confirmation of the report, but NATO has threatened in recent days to strike state-run TV facilities, accusing them of spreading propaganda.

"Serb radio and TV is an instrument of propaganda and repression," British Air Commodore David Wilby, NATO's military spokesman said earlier this week.

"It has filled the airwaves with hate and with lies over the years and especially now. It is therefore a legitimate target in this campaign" he said before Friday's attack.

Shortly after the hit on the state broadcaster, Yugoslavia's charge d' affaires Vladislav Jovanovic told CNN he was not surprised that NATO might be targeting media facilities.

He said the attack was in violation of conventions guaranteeing freedom of the press. "The United States which pretends to be the champion of democracy in the world is acting against the free voice of the truth about the aggression against Yugoslavia."

NATO pressed on with its air raids Friday despite worsening weather conditions and observances of Orthodox Good Friday. The strikes included Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. ships in the Adriatic Sea.

The weather outlook for the weekend is poor for NATO pilots who face at least two days of clouds and scattered showers.

The 17th consecutive night of bombing began shortly after NATO requested about 50 additional warplanes to intensify Operation Allied Force. There are currently about 600 NATO aircraft operating in the Balkans.

Separately the Pentagon announced Friday that six more all- weather F-15C fighters would be deployed to the region.

But the continued airstrikes took a backseat at the latest round of briefings from the Pentagon where officials alleged Serb troops were herding ethnic Albanian Kosovar women into Serb military camps and raping them.

"This is a very eerie and disturbing echo of documented instances of rape and killing of women in Bosnia during the Bosnia war, and it is obviously outrageous if this is occurring." Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said. Jovanovic denied the reports.

And at the Yugoslav-Albania border late Friday, about 1,500 Kosovar Albanian refugees streamed into Albania across the Albanian border in a convoy of tractors, jeeps and other vehicles after Yugoslav forces and Serb police expelled them from their village near Pristina, an OSCE spokesman said.

It was the first mass exodus of refugees there since the checkpoint was reportedly closed three days ago.

In Washington, top administration officials told CNN the NATO airstrikes may go on for weeks -- or longer.

President Bill Clinton was coming under increasing pressure to use ground troops in Kosovo, from members of Congress who this week traveled with Defense Secretary William Cohen to Europe.

"It may not be time to introduce ground troops but to rule out the option is, of course, really a half-measure in itself," said Sen. John McCain, (R-Arizona).

Kyprianou

In Moscow, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a tough statement, warning NATO against intensifying the attacks against Yugoslavia.

"I told NATO and the Americans and the Germans don't push us toward military actions. Otherwise the whole of Europe, or maybe the entire world, will plunge into a war," Yeltsin said.

Early in the day, a high-ranking envoy from Cyprus, Spyros Kyprianou failed to win the release of three captured U.S. soldiers in a meeting with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

The meeting lasted for about an hour and a half. Kyprianou expressed anger that NATO continued with heavy air attacks while he was in Belgrade. "They should have shown some restraint and respect," he said.

NATO said that despite weather hampering Friday's bombing runs, attacks in recent days had brought a string of direct hits, including strikes on an armored barracks in Nis, a heavily traveled military bridge over the Danube River, an air defense communications site near Novi Sad and a communications relay site.

UNHCR workers help transfer refugees to other countries

But NATO acknowledged that at least one bomb intended for a telephone headquarters in the Kosovo capital Pristina missed its target and hit nearby houses.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said plans to airlift thousands of refugees from Macedonia to distant countries were placed on hold.

The decision was made after nearly 10,000 refugees had been moved to Albania, 10,000 to Turkey, 1,000 to Germany, several hundred to Norway and smaller numbers to Switzerland or Iceland.

The High Commissioner, Sadako Ogata, met with government leaders in Albania and Macedonia on the issue.

"Everyone was in agreement that the best solution was for them to return home to Kosovo when they could do so in safety and dignity," UNHCR spokeswoman Dawn Calabia said. "To insure that option, it seemed preferable for them to stay in the region.

Correspondents Brent Sadler, Alessio Vinci and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.