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NATO strikes Yugoslavia as U.N. delegation prepares visit
NATO carries out rare daytime bombing
May 16, 1999
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- As a U.N. delegation was set to begin a humanitarian visit to Yugoslavia on Sunday, officials reported that NATO aircraft struck Serb forces in southern Kosovo. NATO hit six tanks and armored vehicles, as well as electrical power transformers supplying the Smederevo iron and steel plant and Bor copper smelter and refinery. Other strategic targets included military radio relay sites, highway bridges at Kosmaca and Kursumilija. Army barracks and a command post at Pristina were also struck. The humanitarian officials, who plan a 10-day tour of Serbia, including parts of Kosovo, will be the first U.N. representatives to visit Yugoslavia since NATO began airstrikes almost two months ago. U.N. relief coordinator Sergio Vierira de Mello heads the group of officials from the High Commissioner for Refugees and the Children's Emergency Fund -- both U.N. agencies -- as well as the World Health Organization. Vierira de Mello said the delegation has been assured it can move freely in Yugoslavia.
More questions about civilian deathsDuring news briefings Saturday, NATO officials continued to answer questions regarding an airstrike that Yugoslav officials say killed 87 ethnic Albanians Thursday night in Korisa, a town in southern Kosovo. Alliance officials said a military storage facility in Korisa was targeted and suggested that Yugoslav troops forced refugees there at the time of the bombings. "We know there is a real threat of human shields all the way through Kosovo," Clark said at Rinas airport in Albania, where he visited the U.S. Army's Apache helicopter attack force. Yugoslav officials, who said no military units were in the area, called the allegation "crazy," according to Serb media.
Macedonia receives military aid
Defense officials in Skopje said Saturday that military aid from Bulgaria has begun to arrive in Macedonia. The country has had virtually no national defenses since it broke away from Yugoslavia. The deliveries mark the first time Macedonia has owned major military hardware since 1991. The equipment includes 94 Soviet-built T-55A tanks and 108 howitzer cannons with 40 tons of ammunition. Macedonia, an impoverished Balkan nation straining to support one-third of the 780,000 ethnic Albanians that have fled the fighting in Kosovo, recently received a pledge from the United States for $21 million in economic aid for the refugees. In other developments:
Correspondents Walter Rodgers, Tom Fenton and Brent Sadler contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: U.N. delegation heading to Yugoslavia RELATED SITES: Extensive list of Kosovo-related sites:
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