Skopje - Macedonia's army renewed attempts to retake a rebel-held village in the mountainous north-east yesterday, after a month of government efforts to drive ethnic Albanian insurgents out of the tiny Balkan state. At least 8,000 mostly ethnic Albanian villagers have been trapped in the battle zone since May 3rd.
The UNHCR refugee agency said that since the start of the conflict in February, some 20,000 refugees had crossed into ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo. "The villagers of Lipkovo, Otlja and Slupcane are now eating boiled wheat daily because the police and army have imposed an iron siege," the mayor of Lipkovo told an Albanian-language newspaper. Food, water and medicines are already reported to be in short supply.