Clashes with Albanian rebels in northern Macedonia

(21 May 2001)

1. Various wide shots of village with audio of heavy machine gun fire
2. Wide hit bunker smoking on hillside
3. Mid shot village with audio of gunfire
4. Street in village
5. Tank manoevering in village, moving towards rebel positions
6. Gunman adjusting aim
7. Mid shot APC with gunman on top of it
8. Personnel in APC shooting as APC moves off
9. Various of Macedonian soldiers sheltering
10. Various of APC manoevering
11. Various of hit targets on hillside smoking

STORYLINE:

Backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, troops stepped up their offensive on Monday against ethnic Albanian insurgents in northern villages where thousands of civilians remain trapped, shattering pledges of government restraint in quashing the rebel movement.

The fighting centered on Opae, where government helicopter gunships and tanks shelled ethnic Albanian positions to win control of the one-third of the village in rebel hands.

The rebels responded with machine-gun fire.

Macedonian army spokesman Blagoja Markovski reported that the rebels first attacked for about an hour at dawn from the nearby villages of Slupcane and Vaksince, using snipers and machine guns.

The military responded with artillery fire, Markovski said.

The Macedonian government initially threatened to "eliminate" the rebels unless they accepted a deadline last week to give up their armed struggle for more rights.

But under intense pressure from the West, the government later promised restraint.

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