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Fighting Flares Up Around Macedonian Barracks
TETOVO, Macedonia, July 23 (News Agencies) - Ethnic Muslim Albanian rebels hit Macedonian army barracks with several rounds of mortar fire on Monday in the flashpoint northwestern town of Tetovo, military officials in the town told the French news agency, AFP.
There were no immediate reports of casualties among the soldiers stationed in the barracks, situated on the eastern edge of the town, the officials said.
Since Sunday, Tetovo has been the scene of intense clashes between activists of the National Liberation Army (NLA) and security forces.
Four Macedonian civilians were injured Monday, one of them seriously, in fighting around the town stadium.
The NLA has set up a well-defended checkpoint just a few hundred meters (yards) from a sandbagged police position on the other side of the sports stadium.
The fighting started at 11:35 am (0935 GMT), an AFP reporter on the scene said, and was still underway two hours later.
The streets of the town, which was also subjected to heavy fighting in March, were almost deserted Monday as citizens took cover.
Army officials said both sides were using mortars.
The recent mortar attack was the first time the activists have assaulted the base with heavy weapons, although it was hit by rifle fire during fighting in March.
Two Macedonian soldiers were slightly injured on Sunday in clashes, which the defense ministry described as the heaviest fighting since NATO brokered a fragile ceasefire on July 5.
The ministry said the activists started firing from villages and suburbs under their control and that their troops had responded.
Tetovo was the scene of heavy fighting in March, when the NLA, for the first time, moved out of its mountain strongholds and opened fire on security forces from hills overlooking the mainly ethnic Muslim Albanian town.
The activists have been fighting for more rights for Albanians since February, as leaders from both sides have been trying to find a political settlement and address ethnic Albanian grievances.
The talks broke down last Thursday, and Western envoys were meeting President Boris Trajkovski on Monday to try to find a way out of the impasse over the status of the Albanian language.
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