Macedonia steps up rebel offensive

Fighting has escalated along the Kosovo-Macedonia border as government forces continue their offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels.

Macedonian troops pounded the hills above the city of Tetovo with mortar fire this morning in an effort to force the rebels back into their own territory. The sustained attacks came as both sides warned that they will step up the fight in the coming days.

The military is slowly acquiring more firepower and seems to be having some success against the guerrillas, who invaded northern Macedonia from Kosovo because ethnic Albanians living in the former Yugoslav republic claim they are treated as second class citizens.

Macedonian MI-24 helicopters, recently supplied by the Ukraine, fired rockets in a sweep yesterday outside central Tetovo.

However, the more frequent the Macedonian attacks, the more the rebels' popularity grows.

The international community has condemned the so-called National Liberation Army's invasion of a country where an ethnic Albanian party is involved in a coalition government.

The guerrillas are apparently trying to establish a Greater Albania or a Muslim enclave in Kosovo, northern Macedonia and southern Serbia