WASHINGTON -- Faced with a Kosovo refugee crisis that is rapidly engulfing the Balkan region, NATO ordered upward of 8,000 troops and tons of supplies to Albania yesterday, while thousands of allied troops already stationed in Macedonia were dispatched to take part in the humanitarian efforts there.
Following through on its pledge to hit Yugoslavia's infrastructure, NATO struck early today at the Yugoslav capital's New Belgrade district, a modern industrial-residential complex across the Sava River from the center of the city, according to wire reports.
Yugoslav civil defense officials said a thermal heating plant in New Belgrade was hit a few hours before dawn, along with the police academy in the Banjica suburb.
There were no signs of attacks in the center of the old city, where NATO bombs earlier destroyed the Yugoslav and Serbian interior ministries.
State-controlled media reported a total of 13 people injured in the strikes.
Three people were injured when a fuel depot near the town of Kraljevo, about 75 miles south of Belgrade, was also hit, news reports said. Also, a previously bombed factory in the central town of Cacak was targeted again. A power plant in the town of Pancevo, 10 miles northeast of Belgrade, also was hit.
As the conflict continued in the beleaguered Serbian province and tens of thousands of refugees fled into neighboring countries, officials estimated that all ethnic Albanians -- who made up 90 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population -- could be forced from their homes before the end of the month.
"We currently estimate that between 200,000 and 300,000 people are moving towards the borders seeking refuge in the neighboring countries," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea. "At this rate the Serb security forces would have more or less emptied Kosovo in between 10 to 20 days from now."
NATO and the United States quickly stepped up other humanitarian relief efforts yesterday, immediately dispatching planeloads of tents, sleeping bags and food, while drawing up plans for thousands of troops to assist in the relief.
From 6,000 to 8,000 NATO troops are expected to head to Albania to assist in the relief efforts while the 10,000 NATO troops already based in Macedonia will offer help to that nation's government, officials said.
A day after NATO missiles turned government buildings in downtown Belgrade into fiery skeletons, President Clinton declared yesterday that the allies would continue a more intensive air campaign designed to "exact a very high price" for Yugoslavia's military campaign and "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo.
Administration and Pentagon officials also said last night that the United States has agreed to send Apache helicopter gunships to Albania, along with rockets and hundreds of soldiers to operate them, and will seek final NATO approval today for their use against Yugoslav forces in Kosovo, the New York Times reported.
NATO's supreme commander, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, had asked for the use of the Apaches -- the Army's low-flying gunships designed to seek out and destroy tanks and other armored equipment -- more than a week ago. But his request had stalled because of political concerns that the helicopters suggested a ground war as much as the air war that the United States and NATO have so far waged.
The officials declined to specify the exact number of Apaches and soldiers would ultimately be sent to neighboring Albany, but a battalion of 18 Apaches and a battalion each of two rocket systems used to back them up, along with infantry troops to guard their base, would involve putting a force of as many as 2,000 Army soliders not far from the most intense fighting in Kosovo.
NATO could still limit the number or location of the Apaches, but the administration's approval moves the United States much closer to the introduction of ground troops in the Balkans.
The bombing campaign, now entering its 11th day, was hampered by the weather, officials said, with some planes unable to carry out bombing runs. As a result, the NATO attack dubbed Operation Allied Force relied on U.S. all-weather aircraft and cruise missiles fired by allied ships in the Adriatic Sea, NATO and Pentagon officials said.
"Our military mission in Kosovo is a difficult and dangerous one, but it's necessary and right, and we must stand with all our NATO allies to see it through," Clinton said yesterday in his radio address. "Our goal is to exact a very high price for Mr. Milosevic's policy of repression, and to seriously diminish his military capacity to maintain that policy."
Eight 1,000-pound Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy and British vessels early yesterday morning destroyed two buildings of the Interior Ministry in Belgrade, which houses the headquarters for the special police who have been assisting Yugoslav army units in their Kosovo attacks. Initial reports said the Defense Ministry was also attacked, though that ministry -- while still on a target list -- remained unscathed.
NATO missiles also destroyed a bridge that crosses the Danube River at Novi Sad, Yugoslavia's ssecond-largest city. Pentagon officials said the highway bridge was used to resupply troops in Kosovo. Earlier they destroyed the Backa Palanka bridge over the Danube River border with Croatia, about 35 miles west of Novi Sad.
Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, whose police center was devastated, said the attack by "NATO's neo-Nazis" was "an act of monsters and criminals."
NATO officials said the refugee crisis is growing by the hundreds of thousands in Kosovo. In grim lines up to six miles long, lightly clothed refugees huddle in the chilly weather, trying to cross into Albania and Macedonia.
The refugee tide led Macedonia to threaten a border closure to prevent instability, with the country's military chief announcing some troops were being sent to bolster border control. NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana called Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov in the middle of the night to assure him the alliance "is going to do all in its power" to assist with the refugees, Shea said.
Shea said NATO's political arm, the North Atlantic Council, has directed British Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson, head of an allied force of about 10,000 in Macedonia, to assist in the relief efforts. Jackson is already setting up three refugee camps and a feeding station.
In addition, the council has instructed NATO's supreme commander, Clark, to establish a headquarters in Albania to direct relief efforts.
Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon said yesterday that a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane left Dover Air Force Base in Delaware with the first shipment of 500,000 daily rations for refugees in Albania.
The Air Force also dispatched a
C-5 carrying forklifts and other unloading equipment to Albania to help in the distribution of relief supplies. Throughout the week, the Pentagon will contract for Boeing 747s to carry the remaining daily rations to Albania, Bacon said.
In addition, the U.S. European Command will begin shipping 80 U.S. military trucks and 30 State Department-purchased trucks to Albania to help move supplies from ports and airports, he said.
Bacon also said the Pentagon is sending to Macedonia 200 tents that can sleep 30 people each; 8,000 sleeping bags; 3,000 blankets; and 1,500 cots. Another 700 tents are being readied for shipment.
In another development, NATO officials warned Milosevic not to take any action that might destabilize the government of the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro, where British officials have said there was evidence Milosevic was planning a military coup against President Milo Djukanovic, who has openly opposed Belgrade.
Pentagon spokesman Bacon added, "There would be a strong reaction to any attempt to interfere with the current government of Montenegro. We would rely on air power to do this."
Yesterday, NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Bosnia blew up a crucial Yugoslav rail link connecting Serbia with Montenegro. The purpose was to prevent Yugoslav military forces from traveling on the line, according to a statement.
Solana, the NATO secretary-general, caused a diplomatic stir yesterday when he said an alliance-led protection force could go into Kosovo to return refugees before Milosevic signs a peace agreement. That agreement -- or Milosevic's embrace of an agreement -- has been a core goal of the allies before troops head into Kosovo.
The alliance did not endorse Solana's statement and the Clinton administration insisted there had been no change in policy.
The Pentagon also announced that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will join Operation Allied Force, arriving in the Adriatic tomorrow with its 72 attack and support aircraft and four ships that can fire Tomahawk missiles. The entry of the Roosevelt will beef up an allied presence that includes more than 400 aircraft and six Tomahawk-capable vessels.
In addition, 12 radar-evading F-117 Nighthawk fighters left Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico yesterday and are expected to arrive today in the Balkan region, where they will soon take part in missions. That will double the number of Nighthawks in the campaign to 24, the Pentagon said.