War Briefing April 12

Nato Foreign ministers reaffirm their campaign.

Nato Foreign ministers reaffirm their campaign.

RAF Harrier jets attack through clouds, for fist time in conflict. April 12 targets include: oil refinery at Pancevo, near Belgrade; and Sam missile facility at Novi Sad (Serbs claim target was residential). Explosions also reported at Batajnica military airfield.

Yugoslav passenger train from Belgrade to Salonika in Greece hit on a bridge south of Belgrade, Yugoslav military officials said. Two, possibly nine, of the 393 passengers reports dead, 16 injured.

36 people died in bombing of Zastava car and arms factory, says company director. Zastava Serbia's largest industrial employer, with 38,000 workers at Kragujevac, 114 km south of Belgrade.

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Refugees

£250,000 worth of seized pirate designer clothing to be sent to refugees by Devon Council. The 6,000 items include fake Armani, Ralph Lauren and Kickers leisure wear.

NATO says there are 250,000 refugees clustered in five major pockets inside Kosovo.

Kosovans say Milosevic wants to redress ethnic imbalance caused by Croatian expulsion of 800,000 Serbs from Croatia's Krajina region in 1995 by moving them into Kosovo.

Inside Kosovo

Tanjug, official Yugoslav news agency, says two NATO raids on barracks in Pristina. No details of casualties. Tanjug says two civilians killed, one injured, when NATO missile hit car on road between Pristina and Polje.

Inside Yugoslavia

Parliament votes to join alliance of slav states of Russian and Belarus. No MPs opposed the motion, six abstained.

Russian aid convoy for Serbia blocked at the Hungarian border for two days allowed to proceed.

Quote of the Day.

"On March 29 a senior Serb general claimed that Yugoslav forces had destroyed seven NATO aircraft, three helicopters, 30 cruise missiles and three unmanned surveillance aircraft...that 88 Nato troops were killed during clashes in Kosovo ant that a total of 32 aircraft belonging to the coalition were reported as missing...Other claims included a claim that an entire German =brigade had absconded in Macdeonia and that a group of Norwegian pilots had refused to take to the air in Nato bombing missions - none of this fictitious activity has happened" 0 George Robertson, British defence minister.