NATO will neither confirm nor deny that the bomb dropped mistakenly on a civilian vehicle caused the terrible casualties shown on Serbian television over the past few days.
The NATO spokesman, Mr Jamie Shea, said while greater care will be taken in the future, NATO bombing of military convoys would not stop.
"NATO carries out attacks on convoys every day," Mr Shea said. "That is what we do. We will do it today and we will do it tomorrow and tomorrow. We have no other indication of any other hit on any other civilian vehicle other than the one we have owned up to and apologised for."
Under considerable pressure at a press conference in Brussels yesterday to explain exactly what happened on the road to Dakovica, Mr Shea said journalists should "seek the information from Belgrade". "We have confirmed what happened on the road north of Dakovica," he said. "When we have more information we will share it with you. We have told you we have hit one civilian vehicle. Now that does not mean that you should presuppose that every other incident can be laid at NATO's door."
NATO did not know the extent of civilian casualties. This was not the kind of information the alliance could determine easily. "It is very difficult to come up with that kind of information in a very unfree place without international observers on the scene," Mr Shea said. "Pilots reported burning villages in the area and I suspect that is the real story," he asserted. "But we deal in facts and won't make allegations until we are sure of them. I believe the truth will come out in the end." He referred to reports from refugees describing attacks from low-flying Serb helicopters, without saying that this might be what happened.
"This is not a situation where you can send the local police around to see what happened, like if you have a car crash," Mr Shea said. "We are doing our best on the basis of photographic material at 15,000 feet. When we have more information we will share it with you."
Brig Gen Guiseppe Marani added that operating from the air at such an altitude made it difficult to see what was going on. The pilot had reported targeting three olive-green military armed trucks. The photograph showed a civilian vehicle. "It was a very specific case," he said, but would not be drawn on exactly what kind of vehicle it was. "It could have been a tractor," Brig Gen Marani said, but he was not sure. He did not think one bomb could have caused carnage of the extent that has been so graphically described.
The general said NATO was trying to improve its tactics to ensure this kind of accident did not recur. The aircraft would "fly at a lower altitude in the future," he said.