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Kosovo Update Released by the Bureau of European Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, March 17, 1999

(Editor's Note: With the progressive changeover of responsibility from KDOM to OSCE/KVM, the KDOM Daily Report has been replaced by this Update, which is published as material becomes available.)

Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-5624) from daily reports of the U.S. element
of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observers Mission and other sources

March 17, 1999

As the peace talks continue in Paris, the apparent Serb military build-up in and near Kosovo continues. The Serb offensive against the KLA, which has been evident over the past 2 weeks, seems now to be gaining momentum. The F.R.Y. is actively reinforcing its military and police troops with new equipment, including T-72 tanks which are larger than those previously used in the Kosovo fighting.

Some localized fighting is reported to have taken place yesterday in the Podujevo area, near Kosovska Mitrovica, and in the foothills of the Cicavica mountains. Reports from observers say that the villages of Pantin and Oshlane, west of Vucitrn, were burning on March 15 and yesterday. Heavy troop redeployments were reported in that area. The KVM also reported major troop movements north of Pristina.

OSCE/KVM Director William Walker said that Serb forces were escalating their military activities gradually while keeping a careful eye on Western reaction. Belgrade seems to be controlling the situation to avoid huge losses of civilian lives that would leave the West with no option but to take military action.

In a new (and preliminary) report, the UNHCR has put the number of Kosovo displaced persons at 90,000 since December 1998 (estimates on March 1 were 60,000). Most of the newly displaced are from northern Kosovo, especially the Mitrovica and Podujevo areas. Reports say also that since late February approximately 23,000 new IDPs have been created by the fighting around Vucitrn.

The UNHCR report agrees with the KVM observation that civilian casualties have been "relatively light" in the recent fighting. The report says that in at least some places, VJ forces have apparently made deliberate attempts to avoid targeting non-combatants. Overall, the humanitarian situation in Kosovo is worsening, with a new mini-crisis in a different village seemingly every day. Both the F.R.Y. and KLA forces are closing roads to the releif agencies, making their efforts to help more difficult. The fighting also has trapped IDPs in remote areas. The fighting on both sides of the Cicaica Mountains, for example, has forced IDPs to the center where they are trapped and relief agencies find them impossible to reach.

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