NATO set ablaze the Belgrade offices of President Milosevic's ruling party RELATED VIDEO Some Kosovars prefer to be smuggled to Italy rather than go to refugee camps. They talk with CNN's Rusty Dornin. (April 21) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Brent Sadler reports on the bombing of the Belgrade offices of President Slobodan Milosevic's ruling party (April 21) Windows Media 28K 80K French troops at the Macedonian border say Yugoslavia appears to be preparing for a NATO ground war. CNN's Richard Blystone reports. (April 21) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Matthew Chance says the stream of refugees entering Macedonia is increasing (April 21) 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: The Kosovo refugees Protesting the NATO strikes Devastation of the Kosovo capital The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO U.S. 'tank-killer' helicopters arrive in Albania Ground troops option to be reviewed by NATO leaders  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo  MAPS NATO officials describe the air campaign  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL NATO at 50

April 21, 1999
Web posted at: 1:04 p.m. EDT (1704 GMT)

In this story: Attack seen as symbolic Campaign shadows summit RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO began a fifth week of airstrikes on Yugoslavia by lashing out at its political leadership, even as NATO leaders prepared to mark the alliance's 50th anniversary.

NATO cruise missiles severely damaged the Belgrade headquarters of Serbia's Socialist Party, the political organization led by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, on Wednesday. The attacks marked NATO's 29th day of the bombing campaign, aimed at stopping a Yugoslav offensive against ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

NATO spokesman Jamie Shea described the Socialist Party offices as "the very center of the power structure in Belgrade," containing not only the political party office but parts of Yugoslavia's air defense command, communications and propaganda operations.

With the additional aircraft committed to the Balkan campaign since NATO began air raids on March 24, the alliance is now able to hit twice as many targets daily as it could at the outset, Shea said. NATO hit 30 targets Wednesday, he said.

While Shea denied that Milosevic himself was a target, the attacks were meant to demonstrate that NATO "will go for the brain as much as we'll go for the fingertips."

But the "fingertips" -- the Yugoslav army in Kosovo -- were still moving Wednesday, attacking supply lines and attempting to disrupt communications of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Shea said. The ethnic Albanian rebel group has been battling Yugoslav troops for more than a year in a bid for independence for the province.

Much of that fighting has taken place west of the city of Pec, where as many as 15,000 Kosovars have been displaced and are on the move. An increasing number of refugees crossing into Albania and Macedonia have shrapnel or bullet wounds, Shea said.

The Yugoslav army and Serb special police have been fighting in northwest Kosovo, near the border with Serbia's sister republic of Montenegro, and near the Albanian border. Yugoslav and Albanian troops clashed along that frontier on Tuesday.

NATO's military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Giuseppe Marani, said NATO pilots encountered only light resistance from Yugoslav air defenses and suffered no losses.

Pilots were hampered by poor weather, but were still able to attack Yugoslav troops in Kosovo, Marani said.

And NATO will soon be able to send as many as 24 tank-killing Apache helicopter gunships against Yugoslav troops. The Pentagon said that the first wave of Apaches arived Wednesday in Tirana, Albania.

In Belgrade, the attack on the 23-story Socialist Party building was considered a strike at a symbol of Milosevic's power. The structure also houses the offices of TV Pink, a popular entertainment studio that has been involved with recent anti-NATO protests, and Kosava radio and TV, owned by Milosevic's daughter Marija.

NATO said the building also housed communications links that aided the Yugoslav army and air defense.

"That is enough for us to consider that a wholly legitimate target," Shea said.

Wednesday's strikes came on the eve of a visit by Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin, who is scheduled to arrive Thursday in another effort to end the conflict.

Another NATO attack in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia's second-largest city, severely damaged the Zezeljev bridge, Yugoslavia's last link across the Danube river, NATO said.

Serbian television reported the bridge is now impassable except to pedestrians. Television footage showed the bridge was damaged, but not destroyed.

The Yugoslav Foreign Ministry told CNN that 500 civilians have died and more than 4,000 have been injured in the NATO bombing campaign. The report said 11 bridges had been destroyed and 14 damaged; 12 railways and railway stations hit; six major roads, seven airports and 40 factories damaged or destroyed.

The report said 16 hospitals and health care centers had also been attacked, along with 190 schools and "tens of thousands" of private homes. Seventeen television relays and transmitters were also hit, the report said.

Serbian TV also reported:

Attacks on an oil refinery, and a Serbian TV transmitter in Novi Sad that knocked out television broadcasts in the region.

Other strikes came in a village near the central Serbian town of Kraljevo, which has come under repeated attack, and Cacak, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Belgrade.

Campaign shadows summit

Explosions light up the sky above Valjevo

The bombing campaign continued even as NATO's political leaders gathered in Washington to mark the 50th anniversary of NATO's creation. Shea said the mood would be one of "determination, resolve, but not one of despondency."

"I believe this is probably the finest way we could celebrate the 50th anniversary of NATO -- to be actually doing things to uphold the principles in which we believe," Shea said. "I think it's much better to be defending those principles rather than simply proclaiming them."

Ceremonies will be "distinguished but more sober," he said. The commemorative aspects of the anniversary conference have been toned down to make time for more meetings among NATO ministers.

NATO officials are warning Milosevic's government not to extend the fighting in Kosovo across Yugoslavia's borders. British Defense Secretary George Robertson said Wednesday that any Yugoslav moves against Albania, Macedonia or the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro would be "a sign of weakness rather than strength."

Yugoslav army troops and Albanian security forces clashed along the Albanian border in a seven-hour firefight, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said. One Albanian soldier was wounded in the first confirmed exchange of fire between soldiers from the two countries since the conflict began.

And Croatia's Defense Ministry said Yugoslav troops had crossed into a U.N.-controlled zone at the border with Montenegro, blocking the border crossing point.

As many as 200 Serb troops crossed into Albania, later withdrawing after the skirmish, Marani said. And another 250 to 300 have entered the demilitarized zone along the Croatian border, he said.

Correspondents Brent Sadler and Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.

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CNN INDEPTH SPECIAL SECTION:

NATO at 50

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RELATED STORIES:

Ground troops option to be reviewed by NATO leaders
April 21, 1999
Blair: 'No deal' for Milosevic
April 20, 1999
NATO launches fresh round of raids, Serbs say
April 19, 1999
NATO bombs hit several Yugoslav cities
April 19, 1999

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RELATED SITES:

Extensive list of Kosovo-related sites
  • Kosovo

Yugoslavia:
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia official site
      • Kesovo and Metohija facts
  • Serbia Ministry of Information
  • Serbia Now! News


Kosovo:
  • Kosova Crisis Center
  • Kosova Liberation Peace Movement
  • Kosovo - from Albanian.com

Military:
  • NATO official site
  • BosniaLINK - U.S. Dept. of Defense
  • U.S. Navy images from Operation Allied Force
  • U.K. Ministry of Defence - Kosovo news
  • U.K. Royal Air Force - Kosovo news
  • Jane's Defence - Kosovo Crisis

Relief:
  • Kosovar doctor helps refugees one at a time
  • Mercy International USA
  • Donations for Kosovo Refugees
  • International Rescue Committee
  • Unicef USA
  • Doctors Without Borders
  • World Vision
  • CARE: The Kosovo Crisis
  • InterAction
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  • International Committee of the Red Cross
  • Disaster Relief from DisasterRelief.org
  • Catholic Relief Services
  • Kosovo Relief
  • ReliefWeb: Home page


Media:
  • Independent Yugoslav radio stations B92
  • Institute for War and Peace Reporting
  • United States Information Agency - Kosovo Crisis

Other:
  • Prayers for peace

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