Hundreds of refugees fleeing fighting in Macedonia arrived in Kosovo early today. They said they were fired on by Macedonian helicopters before they began a 12-hour overnight trek through snow-covered mountain passes.
Refugees said the entire Macedonian village of Vejce, with 1,200 ethnic Albanians, had decided to abandon their homes after Macedonian army helicopters dropped troops in the area and fired toward the village to stem an ethnic Albanian rebellion.
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Macedonian soldiers came under fire yesterday from ethnic Albanian rebels.
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Many of the refugees said Macedonian helicopters also fired on them as they fled their homes.
"While walking through the hills helicopters came above our heads and started firing into the woods which were filled by refugees," said Mr Arif Azemi (35) after walking for hours to Kosovo with his five children.
Local residents counted at least 600 refugees in the remote mountain town of Donje Ljubinje. They fed them before arranging for them to stay with host families. In the nearby town of Gornje Ljubinje more than 100 refugees arrived and some were transported by bus to Prizren - the largest nearby city.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said another 250 refugees also arrived directly in Prizren.
The residents of Vejce say they decided to leave after attacks moved closer and closer to their homes. Some left in the morning (arriving yesterday evening) while others did not leave until a pause in the barrage during the evening.
Meanwhile Macedonian forces dug in overnight after retaking ground held by ethnic Albanian insurgents and vowed their offensive would continue until the rebels were driven out of the country.
The former Yugoslav republic's infantry punched through rebel positions yesterday in a day of fierce battle that raged in the hills just outside Tetovo - Macedonia's second-largest city - spraying houses with bullets and forcing the guerrillas to pull back.
In the most intense fighting in six weeks of conflict with the rebels the army broke through a roadblock and moved into the ethnic Albanian village of Gajre, 2.5 miles north-west of Tetovo, razing homes suspected of sheltering rebels.
AP