Upsurge of fighting racks Bosnia

FIERCE fighting was reported in most parts of Bosnia yesterday, from the north to the south-east, as Serbian forces launched a new offensive, agencies report. Bosnian Serbs, backed by Serb militias from Croatia's Krajina region, launched fresh attacks in northern Bosnia, Tanjug news agency said.

It said Odzak and Gradacac, northern towns near Croatia, fell to Serbian forces on Sunday evening after pushing the last Croatian and Muslim resistance back towards the Sava river and Croatia. If confirmed, the gains would give the Serbs control of a swathe of land, known as Posavina, that links Serbian regions in north-western Bosnia and parts of neighbouring Croatia to Serbia. Tanjug said the Serbs 'were pressing ahead with their objectives, which are to drive back the enemy and to establish a border on the Sava river'.

Bosnian officials denied the Serbian claims. But Croatian television said Croatian and Muslim troops in Posavina were withdrawing to 'reserve positions' and thousands of Muslims were fleeing. Sarajevo radio said Muslim and Croat forces were also driven out of Doboj by a Serb offensive but gained control of strategic heights overlooking the town in fierce ground fighting. 'The Muslim and Croat forces are set on retaking (Doboj) and severing the Serbs' life-line running from Belgrade to Serb-held territories in Croatia,' Sarajevo radio said.

It reported heavy shelling of Gorazde, a town about 30 miles from Sarajevo, which has been under siege from Serbian forces for two months. Major Dervo Harbinja, a Bosnian defence official, estimated the defenders could hold out for 'a maximum of one week'. The town, normally home to about 20,000 people, is also sheltering 30,000 refugees from fighting in the area and is running out of food and water. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was negotiating with the Serbs yesterday to allow the safe passage to the town of a humanitarian aid convoy, said Peter Kessler, a UNHCR official.

The UN peace-keepers in Sarajevo are not permitted under their mandate to operate outside the Sarajevo area and have had to refuse their assistance.

The Bosnian Foreign Minister, Haris Silajdzic, told Austria's Standard newspaper: 'If the international community is not capable of reacting to this catastrophe, then we'll soon be at the point when reaction is no longer necessary.'

The new fighting came just days after Milan Panic, prime minister-designate of what remains of Yugoslavia, met world leaders at the European security conference in Helsinki and pledged to end the bloodshed in Bosnia. Mr Panic seems to have failed in his efforts to bring an end to fighting in the region, through the leader of Serbian forces in Bosnia, Radovan Karadzic.

The United States and West European nations are stepping up pressure on Serbia by sending warships to monitor compliance with UN sanctions. Italian warships began intercepting freighters entering the Adriatic on Sunday. A French frigate yesterday joined an Italian frigate and corvette patrolling the Otranto Channel at the mouth of the Adriatic.

The three ships are part of a contingent from the Western European Union which officials say will co-ordinate with an eight-ship Nato group, which left Lisbon on Saturday and is expected to arrive tomorrow. The Nato force comprises destroyers from Germany and Greece and frigates from Italy, Spain, the United States, Netherlands, Turkey, and Britain. German officials said yesterday the German frigate would not join in the patrol until the government decided tomorrow whether this was constitutionally legal.