Fighting intensifies in eastern Bosnia
Fighting intensifies in eastern Bosnia
SARAJEVO (UPI): Bosnian government and Bosnian Serb forces maintained a heavy exchange of artillery fire near the UN- declared Moslim safe haven of Gorazde, a UN spokesman said yesterday.
"The Serbs are continuing their push and are not deterred by heavy fire from the Bosnian government army," said UN Protection Force spokesman Eric Chaperon. "It is very difficult to assess what is going on, but there are sporadic and heavy barrages by both sides."
UN military observers reported the Serbs reinforced an infantry attack on the southeast section of the eastern Bosnian Moslem enclave with heavy armor.
Unprofor has only four unarmed military observers in the region.
Yesterday, they reported two civilians and one Bosnian army soldier had been killed in shelling on Saturday night, and one Bosnian soldier was wounded.
The commander of Unprofor troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lt.Gen. Michael Rose, told United Press International yesterday his forces lacked both the troops and the mandate to enforce the UN "safe haven" declaration.
"Our primary mandate is to assist in relief efforts and we've been fairly successful in that," Rose said. "I'm short of troops and we've had to concentrate on Sarajevo."
However, Rose said a Ukrainian battalion has been assigned to join the Unprofor command in Gorazde.
Rose downplayed reports of Bosnian Serb gains in the most recent offensive.
"The strategic consequences of the area should not be over- stated," Rose said. "My own belief is that there is limited Serb action aimed at securing routes near Gorazde."
Gorazde is located about 35 miles (55 km) southeast of Sarajevo. It is one of six UN declared safe havens in the republic.
Since fighting intensified Tuesday, at least 21 civilians and 11 Bosnian government soldiers have been killed and 81 civilians and 25 Bosnian government troops wounded.
Elsewhere, Chaperon said occasional shelling was reported Saturday night in the Maglaj region, about 60 miles (90 km) north of Sarajevo. No casualty report was available.
"The rest of the country is relatively quiet," Chaperon said. In Pale, Bosnian Serb strongman Radovan Karadzic was scheduled to meet with Red Cross officials today.