EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Thursday, March 25, 1999-08:15CST

*** CRISIS NEWS BRIEFS ***

FRANCE (EmergencyNet News) - NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said that strikes against Yugoslavia's air defences would probably continue for a few days while military chiefs assess the impact of the first bombings.

RUSSIA (EmergencyNet News) - Russian President Boris Yeltsin said on Thursday that Russia has decided not to use force to counter NATO attacks against Yugoslavia and will continue its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kosovo conflict. Instead, Moscow called for an urgent United Nations Security Council vote today to stop NATO attacks. A Russian call for a council meeting on Wednesday failed to halt the bombings. When the attacks began on Wednesday, Yeltsin said Russia was halting cooperation with NATO and pulling out of the alliance's Partnership for Peace.

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO was reported to be pressing its air assault on Yugoslavia Thursday as Belgrade residents, sheltering in basements during an alert, felt the shock of fresh strikes. The independent Belgrade television Studio B said the airport at Batajnica, northwest of the capital, was hit in mid-morning -- the first new blow reported after a pause which followed Wednesday night's initial wave.

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO's first night of bombing left Kosovo's capital Pristina dazed and silent. Power was restored to parts of blacked-out Pristina at dawn Thursday morning after an air assault that hit at least four large targets around the city.

WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - U.S. warships and bombers, including batwing B-2s used for the first time in combat, struck military targets throughout Serbia with cruise missiles and bombs Wednesday in the vanguard of sustained NATO strikes. U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said initial raids by NATO aircraft from 11 nations pounded air defense and other military targets around Yugoslavia, including Serb forces being used to attack civilians and villages in embattled Kosovo province.

From the ERRI Watch Center

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO continued to press its air assault on Yugoslavia on Thursday. The independent Belgrade television Studio B said the airport at Batajnica, northwest of the capital, was hit in mid-morning -- the first new blow reported after a pause which followed Wednesday night's initial wave.

NATO said its air strikes were successful and reported no allied planes had been shot down. There were reports that at least two Serbian planes were shot down.

In Kosovo, the center of Yugoslavia's quarrel with the West, bombs or unmanned cruise missiles struck at least four large targets around the regional capital Pristina during the night. A fuel dump or industrial plant beside the main military barracks southwest of the city was reported hit. The water supply to Pristina remained cut. A string of ethnic Albanian cafes, stores and a private medical clinic appeared to have been attacked with grenades or bombs during the night. Ethnic Albanian sources reported arson attacks around the province and said a man was fatally shot by marauding civilians in Djakovo in the south.

The Yugoslav general staff said 40 targets -- including five airports, five barracks, communications and command positions and storage depots -- had been hit during the first three hours of attacks. U.S. defense officials said warships and B-52 bombers had struck at air defense targets including missile batteries, radar and military communications sites inside and outside Kosovo. British, French and German aircraft also took part in the raids.  It was Germany's first offensive armed action since World War Two.

The strikes began with six Tomahawks shooting up in less than eight minutes from the deck of the guided missile cruiser Philippine Sea, their booster rockets turning night into day over the 567-foot-long ship as it lay some 50 miles off the coast of Croatia. After a 30-minute pause, three other Tomahawks shot up in less than 25 seconds heading east toward Serbia as a sister ship, the Gonzalez, shot off one missile.

The first missile thundered out of the deck of the high-tech Philippine Sea at about 12:50EST and about 40 minutes later the first salvo was over. Hours before the attack began, sailors in the dimly lit Combat Information Center, the ship's nerve center, began "spinning up" the missiles, loading them with the data necessary to reach Serbia.

The "target packages" were readied and countdown began. The three missiles fired in rapid succession in the second round of the first salvo were shot alternately from the fore-deck and the aft-deck to avoid what the military called "fratricide" or possible airborne collisions of two missiles.

Meticulous planning by NATO chiefs will have been combined with intelligence from special forces troops -- including Britain's SAS -- on the ground to guide the cruise missiles and other aircraft with terrifying accuracy.

Among the most spectacular early successes for an operation likely to last days were a series of strikes on the massive Zastava vehicle and weaponry plant in Kragujevac, near Belgrade. The factory is run by the same company which is responsible for manufacturing Yugo cars. A second major military production plant, the UTVA aircraft factory, was hit in Pancevo, about six miles north of Belgrade. Four missiles slammed into the site, destroying several small sports planes and trainer aircraft.

The central Serbian town of Kragujevac, a major military-industrial center, was plunged into darkness after a heavy explosion in the early hours of the morning.

Serbian TV claimed four people were wounded in attacks on four cities in the northern Vojvodina region - Pancevo, Sombor, Kula and Novi Sad - and that there were civilian casualties in a Kosovo village.

A major early-warning radar station close to the Montenegran capital of Podorica was hit by up to eight Tomahawk cruise missiles in a bid to stop the Serbs detecting Allied aircraft flying from bases in Italy. An army barracks in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, was in flames, and Yugoslav officials said at least one soldier was killed.

An air base and barracks complex close to the Kosovan capital, Pristina, were among the first targets to be hit as the air strikes began at 2001 hrs local time last night.

MACEDONIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO troops in Macedonia were preparing for any Serb retaliatory attacks from neighboring Kosovo in the wake of NATO air strikes. The Serbs have repeatedly threatened to respond with force if attacked and the 10,000 NATO troops in Macedonia are most vulnerable to attack.

The British have a base at Veles, but there are also units around the capital Skopje and Kumanovo, both close to the border with Kosovo. The role of the NATO force in Macedonia remains unchanged - its commanders insist they will not become involved in a land war and will only enter Kosovo to implement a peace agreement accepted by both sides.

The British force includes Challenger tanks from the King's Royal Hussars, a company of Irish Guards equipped with Warrior armored fighting vehicles, a company of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and a battery from 4 Regiment Royal Artillery. They are supported by troops from 21 Engineer Regiment, 28 Engineer Regiment, 27 Regiment Royal Logistical Corps, 29 Regiment Royal Logistical Corps, 23 Parachute Regiment Field Ambulance, elements of the 17 Port and Maritime Regiment and some personnel from 5 Regiment Royal Artillery and 30 Signals Regiment. Though they won't say ... you can bet the house the famed Special Air Service (SAS) is also doing their thing in the region.

NATO troops in nearby Bosnia stepped up security measures in response to unspecified threats. A statement from NATO provided no additional information about the threats, saying only they were related to the situation in Kosovo and made by persons "who stand to gain by destabilizing the peace process." The statement said multinational force in Bosnia "takes all threats to its employees and soldiers seriously."

The U.S. Embassy also received information about a possible terrorist threat against its office in administrative capital of the Serb republic, Banja Luka.

On 23 March, the U.S. State Department issued an updated Travel Warning for Bosnia. The following is the full text of that warning:

"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the potential for increased danger of travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, the potential exists in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina for retaliation against United States citizens and interests, as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are considering military action against neighboring Serbia and Montenegro. Given the recent history in the region, the possibility exists for spontaneous reactions against U.S. citizens and interests. therefore, the Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens to depart the RS. U.S. Government personnel have been withdrawn from the RS entity until further notice.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was halted by the Dayton Peace Accords in November 1995. However, there are still risks from occasional localized political violence, landmines, unexploded ordnance, and carjacking. As many as one million landmines are still scattered throughout the country, and visitors are advised to remain on well-trafficked surfaces and roadways. There are also occasional flare-ups of violence, sometimes linked to protests over the return of displaced persons and arrests of war criminals. Visitors should avoid crowds and stay away from demonstrations."

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