Heavy fighting on eve of Solana visit

Macedonian security forces have pushed towards two ethnic Albanian rebel strongholds, setting several houses on fire and touching off explosions that rocked the hills along the rugged border with Kosovo.

The attacks against the villages of Slupcane and Matejce hindered efforts by international aid groups to help thousands of civilians trapped in the fighting and came just one day before a key European official was to travel to Macedonia in an effort to end the crisis.