(21 Jan 1999) Natural Sound
Serbian forces clashed with ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo on Thursday.
The fighting was sparked off by a Serbian sweep of several villages in northern Kosovo.
Several ethnic Albanian men were taken away from one village.
Thursday’s police sweep started in the village of Vraganica, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Kosovo’s capital, Pristina.
Two guerrillas from the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army were killed in fighting there on Wednesday.
The Serbs moved on to the virtually deserted village of Shipolje.
The police went from house to house, looking for members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (K-L-A).
Several ethnic Albanian men were rounded up and had their papers checked.
Tensions in Kosovo escalated dramatically after the discovery of the Racak bodies.
The government claims they were rebels killed in combat.
Detentions of Albanian men by Serbian police is a particularly sensitive issue.
UPSOUND – Anti aircraft gun
Occasionally the sound of Serbian soldiers firing an anti-aircraft gun at suspected K-L-A positions was heard echoing across the fields.
UPSOUND – Anti aircraft gun
Although they weren’t arrested the Albanians were taken off to a nearby town.
The Serb police claimed they did not want anyone shooting them as they left.
Despite a cease-fire in effect since October, the United Nations estimates 20-thousand civilians have fled their homes since Christmas because of clashes.
About two thousand people have died in the fighting.
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