Pristina - More than 1,000 ethnic Albanians fled southern Serbia for Kosovo yesterday, fearing a Yugoslav army offensive against rebels when a NATO-brokered ceasefire expires today, the UN refugee agency said.
The displaced persons reported the "heavy presence of tanks" near their villages around Bujanovac the nearest large town to the front line, and feared an attack, Mr Peter Deck, a field officer for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.
No firing was reported in the disputed border region yesterday, a spokesman for Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeeping force said, but members of the rebel Liberation Army for Presevo, Medveda and Bujanovac (UPCMB) were digging in preparation for a Yugoslav attack, witnesses said.