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Albanian Rebels Defiant
NEAR GRACANI, Macedonia, March 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Albanian rebels warned Thursday they would defend themselves against government forces trying to squeeze them of their strongholds around Macedonia's northern border.
"The Macedonians have profited from the unilateral ceasefire we proclaimed last week," when the army drove the rebels from around the northwestern town of Tetovo, a commander told reporters at a base less than a mile from the front line at Gracani.
The rebels of the National Liberation Army (NLA) have been deployed in this hilly forested area along the border with neighboring Kosovo for about two weeks.
The scene of continuous skirmishes, the area around Gracani has come under intensive fire from the army, which, after its offensive at Tetovo, now aims to root out the rebels all along the border with Kosovo.
"The clashes yesterday were especially violent. They used helicopters, 80 and 120 mm mortars, tanks and cannon. We responded to the attacks, and this morning we destroyed an armored vehicle," said the commander, fighting under the name "Studenti" (student).
He said three of his fighters had been injured by army mortar fire.
The 25-year-old, who was calm and serious, shrugged aside the statements of triumph being issued in Skopje, saying the army had halted the Albanian rebellion.
"They're just trying to boost morale among their men, but it's nothing but propaganda. Our war is serious and decisive," he said.
Careful not to let slip any information about the number of NLA fighters or their positions in the area, he insisted nevertheless that the rebels "are being reinforced every day."
"I think we can win this war militarily," he insisted.
But the NLA in the area of Gracani appeared to be equipped only with automatic rifles, grenades and a few rocket-launchers to face off Macedonian army artillery.
The rebels insist they are "guerillas," able to open a number of smaller fronts in dozens of locations throughout Macedonia.
Studenti said the NLA was fighting "to force Skopje to accept negotiations" to end what they say is widespread discrimination against Macedonia's large ethnic Albanian minority.
"We started this war because we had no other choice," he insisted, although he admitted he did not know exactly who the rebels' political representatives are or whether there had been contacts with the Macedonian government.
"I am nothing but a soldier," he said.
But other rebels insisted that "Skopje has shown no signs of opening up" to a political solution.
"All those fighting here are doing so because they have been maltreated and harassed by the Macedonians. We demand we be respected," said Studenti.
Meanwhile, Macedonian defense ministry spokesman Georgi Trendafilov on Thursday denied that Macedonian forces fired a mortar, which killed two civilians and a British TV cameraman in neighboring Kosovo.
"We absolutely reject the possibility that any of our [military] means was used on the territory of Kosovo from the area around the village of Gracani," Trendafilov said.
"However, we have sent a special commission which will make a full investigation on this part of the territory" on the Macedonian side of the border.
"The commander who headed the operation in that area absolutely rejects such a possibility," said Trendafilov.
The mortar rounds landed near the Kosovo border village of Krivenik, killing two villagers aged 19 and 33, Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers said in Pristina.
A British cameraman working for the Associated Press was also killed by the blast, AP said.
In response to allegations that the mortar fire originated from ethnic Albanian rebels, a regional rebel commander, Commander Sokoli, said the rebels lacked the military capability to strike the village from their positions in Macedonia.
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