Albanian rebels take fighting to the city

The danger of a new crisis in the Balkans grew sharply yesterday as fighting in Macedonia suddenly spread to the country's second biggest city.

The danger of a new crisis in the Balkans grew sharply yesterday as fighting in Macedonia suddenly spread to the country's second biggest city.

Mortars and heavy machine-gun fire were reported around the city of Tetovo, in the north-west of the country. This is the first time Albanian rebels who have been occupying a series of villages on the Kosovo-Macedonian border have brought their campaign out of the hills and into Macedonia's urban heartland. The majority of Tetovo's 80,000 residents are members of Macedonia's Albanian minority.

At least 10 people were reported injured by state radio, including eight police officers.

In Tetovo last night, the streets were deserted as residents sheltered in their homes.

Non-Albanian residents, from the country's Slav majority, were said to be fleeing. Shopkeepers were seen packing up their wares and leaving. In villages on the slopes around the city, several houses were reported to be burning.

"The situation in Tetovo is exceptionally serious," said Stevo Pendarovski, a spokesman for the Macedonian police. He said the violence started in the morning, when 15 Albanian guerrillas attacked a police patrol on the outskirts of the city.

The first burst of gunfire echoed over the city while some 5,000 Albanians gathered for a rally in support of the rebels in the centre of the city. With each new volley, the crowds cheered, and chanted the name of the rebel army.

By last night, police appear to have pushed the rebels out of Tetovo into the hills.

The violence erupted as Yugoslav troops were moving towards the Kosovo border a short distance north, in a Nato initiative to calm tensions.