War in the Bulkans: Conflict Briefing: Day 27

Monday 19 April 1999 23:02 BST
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UNHCR plans to move 40,000 refugees sleeping rough in bad weather in northern Albania, with the help of Albanian forces, to a point 15 miles from the border. They will then be airlifted by US forces to camps at Tirana, Shkroda and Elbasan.

On Sunday, 688 refugees were flown out of Skopje in Macedonia, 340 to Belgium and 348 to France.

Belgium, France, Austria and Turkey have scheduled evacuation flights for today.

Nato said it had evidence of 43 mass grave sites in Kosovo, some dug by Kosovo Albanian prisoners forced by Serbs to bury their countrymen.

The delivery of 24 US Apache helicopter gunships, expected in Albania from Italy yesterday, was delayed at least another day by severe rainstorms.

Nato said 30,000 soldiers would be sent to Kosovo when the air campaign was over.

A Danish F-16 fighter patrolling Bosnian airspace made an emergency landing at Sarajevo airport due to an engine problem.

France said it was awaiting Nato approval for air drops of aid into Kosovo. Nato fears low altitude operations could be open to enemy fire and Serb forces could seize aid meant for Albanians.

UNHCR estimated that more than 600,000 people had left Kosovo since Nato began the air assault on 24 March.

Bulgaria's leaders agreed to approve a request from Nato to allow its planes to use Bulgarian air space for strikes on Yugoslavia.

The US was seeking Nato support for cutting off seaborne shipments of oil into Yugoslavia.

Serbia no longer has the ability to refine crude oil.

Property of the Serbian elite was being targeted in Nato airstrikes.

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