Muslims cut swath through Bosnia

A MUSLIM army was on the march in central Bosnia yesterday, levelling a swath of Croatian villages around the town of Travnik. Their ranks swollen by refugees and embittered men who fled atrocities in northern and eastern Bosnia, the Muslims shelled and burnt Croatian houses and shops in much the same way that Serbs and Croats have wrecked Muslim homes and lives.

Frightened Croatian civilians, some on horse-drawn carts, others on foot clutching their belongings, were fleeing the attacks in columns reminiscent of the streams of Muslims running from Serbian raids. 'No single ethnic group in former Yugoslavia can claim a monopoly on suffering any more,' one relief worker said.

UN officials said hundreds of people may have been killed in the Muslim assault, which began at the weekend. Travnik appears to have been cleared of Croatian forces. Military analysts said that the aim of yesterday's drive against civilians was to secure a supply route. The Muslims needed a land corridor to the town of Zenica and were 'cleansing' the Croatian villages in between.

Many Croats fleeing their Muslim erstwhile allies took refuge with their former enemies, the Serbs. One Croatian journalist contacted by telephone said: 'It is grotesque; some 30 HVO (Croatian Defence Council) soldiers fled with Croatian civilians to Vlasic mountain and to the Serbs.' HVO officials said as many as 2,000 Croats fled the region, 'choosing the less bad thing - to go to the Serbs'.

Relief officials are worried that the fighting will spread to Zenica and Tuzla, where Croat and Muslim relations have so far been harmonious. One relief worker said: 'The meeting of the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Spain, Russia and United States last month in Washington gave extremists on all sides the green light to grab whatever territory they want.'

Faris Nanic, of the Independent Press Agency of Bosnia, said: 'Now that the West has abandoned Bosnia, I expect the fighting will continue all over Bosnia, worse than before. This is the start of a real civil war. Before it was a fight against Serbian aggression but now it's everybody in Bosnia against everybody else.'

EC forced to go it alone, page 12

Leading article, letters, page 23