Serbs Cross Into Albania
Stoking fears of a Balkan-wide war, Serb infantry troops crossed into Albania Tuesday, exchanged fire with Albanian border police and seized control of a border village, Albania's interior minister said.
The Serbs took Kamenica, a village in northern Albania that has been shelled by Yugoslavia over the past several days, Interior Minister Petro Koci said.
There were no immediate reports of destruction or casualties, but the forces withdrew after exchanging heavy fire with Albanian border guards.
"Serb troops entered 500-600 meters inside Albania. Albanian police, supported by police from the neighboring border post of Padesh, fought with them for many hours, obliging them to withdraw," Albanian state television said.
Since NATO attacks against Yugoslavia began on March 24, Western leaders have cited the campaign as a possible means of preventing a feared wider war in the Balkans, where World War I was sparked in 1914 at least in part by a Serb nationalist.
In recent days, tensions have spiked along Albania's northern frontier, whose mountainous, treacherous terrain has long been a prime staging ground for the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.
Information Minister Musa Ulqini said earlier that between 3,000 and 4,000 Albanian villagers had fled the area being shelled, 70 miles north of the Albanian capital, Tirana, over the past two days.
"We are prepared for a worse situation," he said.
In recent days, Yugoslavia has taken an increasingly hard line toward Albania, suggesting it would hold it responsible for KLA action initiated from its soil.
However, Albania has become an important area of operation in recent weeks for NATO, which is carrying on a bombing campaign to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to pull his forces out of Kosovo.
Serb artillery fire hit Kamenica on Monday, as it had several times in recent days. Also Monday, Yugoslavia's official Tanjug news agency claimed at least 150 members of the KLA were killed in a border clash with Yugoslav soldiers. That report could not be independently confirmed.
Weekend fighting in nearby Tropoja killed two and wounded nine, international monitors said.
A Yugoslav army officer on the border told Serb TV large numbers of KLA fighters were trying to infiltrate Kosovo from Albania.
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