NATO generals admitted yesterday that ethnic cleansing was taking place in Kosovo, but said their military plan was unchanged, as another night of air strikes began.
In Kosovo and the surrounding states tens of thousands of refugees were on the move, prompting a UNHCR spokeswoman in London, Ms Lyndall Sachs, to say it appeared that Serb forces were attempting to rid Kosovo of every ethnic Albanian. UNHCR estimated that around 270,000 people were internally displaced - fleeing - inside Kosovo itself.
NATO's supreme military commander, Gen Wesley Clark, said alliance air strikes on Yugoslav forces were "a long way from being over". The American general said: "We knew it was not going to be a three- or four-day, one- or two-bomb affair."
As the situation of the Kosovan Albanian population continues to worsen, the US insists that NATO air strikes and not ground troops are still the best policy.
The State Department spokesman, Mr Jamie Rubin, yesterday accused the Serbs of "abhorrent and criminal action on a maximum scale" and listed atrocities which have been reported to the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright.
The White House had to face intensive questioning from the media about the plight of the Kosovans and whether the air strikes were not making it worse.
The President's press secretary, Mr Joe Lockhart, insisted the air strikes were proving effective and would continue until President Milosevic accepted the political settlement negotiated at Rambouillet.
The US is cautiously supportive of the Russian mission to Belgrade today led by the Prime Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov. "We welcome those who have influence on Belgrade who will take a message about what it is they need to do in order to end this allied air campaign and it could be constructive," Mr Lockhart said.
Senior Western officials said last night they now had clear evidence that Serb forces were moving the entire Albanian population of Kosovo out of the province. "They are moving people on a wide front; this is co-ordinated and it's ordered," said the official, who would not be named.
He said there were reliable reports that districts of the northern town of Pec, headquarters of the Serbian Orthodox Church, were in flames after Serbs emptied the town.
There were reports that up to four Kosovo Albanian leaders, including two who were on the team of ethnic Albanian negotiators at the Paris talks, had been executed, but the Kosovo Liberation Army said that two of the men, Mr Rechep Chosia, a political leader, and Mr Veton Surroj, both of whom were in the Paris team, were safe and staying with guerrillas in the hills.
Despite the tide of suffering, KLA officials last night backed Western leaders who said the present offensive was planned to happen whether or not NATO launched its strikes.
"There are some who try to blame the NATO attacks for this, but it was planned a long time ago," said a KLA spokesman, Mr Pleurat Sejdiu.
A NATO aircraft was shot down shortly after midnight (10 p.m. GMT) over Podgorica in Montenegro, Serbian state television reported early today.
The plane was shot down by Yugoslav anti-aircraft guns near Vir Pazar, about 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) south of Podgorica, RTS said, adding that "many witnesses" had seen the plane hit.
Serbian television also reported that Yugoslav forces had killed 13 rebels from the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who were trying to cross into Kosovo from Albania. The 13 were part of a group of between 40 to 50 KLA fighters who had entered southwest Kosovo.