(8 Jan 1999) Serbo-Croat/Nat
SUGGESTED LEAD-IN:
In an escalation of the Kosovo crisis, ethnic Albanian rebels killed three Serb policemen on Friday and seized eight Yugoslav soldiers in a separate ambush.
The Serbs said the policemen were killed when Kosovo Liberation Army (K-L-A) rebels fired an anti-tank weapon at an armoured vehicle near the village of Suva Reka, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Pristina.
Meanwhile, at the nearby village of Slapuzani, ethnic Albanian families fled to the hills following Serb shelling of the village.
SUGGESTED VOICE-OVER:
These ethnic Albanians are the latest victims of the ongoing conflict.
A fresh round of violence led to the Serb shelling of their village Slapuzani.
Out of fear, these people had little choice but to flee their homes and head for the safety of the hills despite the harsh winter conditions.
[SOUNDBITE: (Albanian)
"You see our suffering. They are burning our houses, they are shelling. we are suffering and we are miserable. They have just killed one family."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, Albanian refugee]
An October agreement hoped to end the violence and allow ethnic Albanians to return to their homes.
But recent Kosovo Liberation Army (K-L-A) offensives have inflamed Serb passions and led to calls for retaliation.
Earlier on Friday, an attack by the K-L-A on an armoured personnel carrier (A-P-C) killed three Serb policemen.
It was the first time the guerrillas have been known to have destroyed a government armored vehicle since fighting erupted in Kosovo in February.
Four policemen and two civilians were seriously wounded in a fierce firefight that followed.
The incident seemed to add credence to reports that the rebels have obtained better weapons in their fight for independence.
Rebels claimed they attacked the Serb convoy near Suva Reka after government forces shelled the nearby village of Slapuzani.
There was clearly a large Serb presence in the area.
[UPSOUND: (German)
"There are four APC’s."
SUPER CAPTION: KLA soldier]
In a separate ambush, guerrillas attacked a Yugoslav convoy carrying rations to troops stationed near Kosovska Mitrovica, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Pristina.
They took eight Serb soldiers captive who were part of a Yugoslav convoy carrying rations to troops stationed in the field.
According to the Serb Media Center, the soldiers were unharmed as of Friday.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is verifying the increasingly shaky ceasefire, sent teams to the area to negotiate for the soldiers’ release.
But Serb authorities have already threatened to take strong measures to combat these recent events, which they label ethnic Albanian "terrorism."
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