Serbs fire on Sarajevo

Sarajevo (AFP) - Central Sarajevo was rocked by explosions last night as Bosnian Serb forces, probably using mortars, opened fire to destroy a bunker abandoned by government troops. Warning sirens blared and streets cleared in an incident recallin g the heavy Serbian shelling of 1992 and 1993.

The UN said a local Serb commander admitted his forces attacked the bunker. The incident would be a serious violation of a cessation of hostilities agreement, signed on 31 December. If the mortars reportedly used were above 60mm in size, the attack wouldalso be a breach of the "total exclusion zone" established by the United Nations around Sarajevo last year. The bunker, located near the Jewish cemetery in the centre of the capital, was abandoned on Wednesday by the army.

Meanwhile, the UN refugees office (UNHCR) suspended its airlift of food and supplies into Sarajevo after Bosnian police detained two of its employees at a checkpoint.

The employees were a Serb and a Croat.

"We don't know where they are. We don't know why they are being held," a UNHCR spokesman said. "Our attempts to receive clarification from the Bosnian government have yielded no results."

The agency halted the airlift, fearing that its local drivers transporting supplies from the airport to the city could be endangered at Bosnian Serb checkpoints as long as the two employees are being held.