SARAJEVO, Aug. 8 -- Croatian and Muslim-led Bosnian government troops have fired at Serb refugees fleeing Croatia, and have burned down Serb villages, U.N. officials said Tuesday. The United Nations has 'reports that Croatian troops are deliberately opening fire on the refugees,' said U.N. envoy Yasushi Akashi. Speaking in Zagreb, he said the 'position of civilians and soldiers is becoming worse by the hour.' U.N. officials in Sarajevo expressed outrage over what they said appeared to be the deliberate targeting of Serb refugees by soldiers of the Bosnian Fifth Army Corps, which is based in the Muslim enclave of Bihac, near the border with Croatia. At least five people were killed and 15 civilians were injured when artillery fire raked a 3-mile (5-km) long convoy of refugees near the northwestern Bosnian town of Dvor. U.N. officials fear the number of casualties may be much higher. 'The group of cars were coming through Dvor, and that is just within artillery range of the Bihac pocket,' said U.N. military spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Vernon. The Serbs had fled the Krajina region, which Croatia government troops retook in a four-day military operation Zagreb says was completed Monday. A U.N. spokesman in Zagreb said Ukrainian peacekeepers saw at least six villages on fire from their observation posts in Krajina, a crescent-shaped region along the Bosnian border, which Croatian Serbs had seized when Zagreb broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991. 'The Ukrainians also heard heavy automatic rifle shooting and screams of villagers,' said U.N. spokeswoman Maj. Rita Lepage.
More than 150,000 Krajina Serb refugees have entered Bosnia- Herzegovina over the weekend, creating what relief agencies have called the 'greatest humanitarian crisis since the beginning of the 4-year war.' Croatian troops have been accused of carrying out the same kind of 'ethnic cleansing' policies Serbs had practiced in Bosnia. 'We understand the Croatian army is setting up a border control point near Dvor to screen the refugees and to filter out the soldiers from the civilians,' said U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko. Meanwhile, ABC News reported Tuesday that U.S. military officials believe they have found evidence of a mass grave in Srebrenica, a U.N.- declared 'safe area' in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina that fell to the Bosnian Serbs last month. When the Serbs captured Srebrenica, they expelled the women and children and detained more than 1,000 Muslim men in a soccer stadium. The fate of the men is unclear. But the network, citing Pentagon sources, said a U-2 spy plane has taken pictures of a large area of freshly turned earth in a field near the stadium. The Pentagon believes it is evidence of a mass burial, ABC said. The report could not be immediately confirmed. In another so-called safe area, the northwestern Bosnian enclave of Bihac, the Bosnian government appeared to be regaining ground Tuesday after the Croatian military offensive relieved pressure on embattled government troops. The army recaptured Velika Kladusa, an area within the Bihac pocket that had served as a stronghold for Muslim rebels loyal to businessman Fikret Abdic, who made an alliance with Croatian and Bosnian Serbs. Akashi urged the warring factions to negotiate a cease-fire 'to spare the people who are trying to flee.' Croatian Serb leader Milan Martic said he would not accept the 'occupation' of the formerly Serb-held territories in Krajina and urged Serbs to fight to defend civilians encircled near Topusko. The small area at the northern end of Krajina is thought to be the last Serb stronghold in the region. 'The situation in Topusko may become hopelessly tragic if the situation is not put under control,' said Akashi. Relief officials said about 50,000 Serb women, children and elderly people were trapped inside Croatia, between the Croatian town of Glina and Dvor on the Bosnian border. Croatian troops had launched their assault against the self-declared Krajina Serb Republic early Friday. They seized the Serb stronghold of Knin in less than 24 hours and say they completed their task by Monday. In a lightning assault, Croatian troops retook the majority of land held by ethnic Serbs since the beginning of the conflict in 1991. Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak said 'Operation Storm' was completed in 84 hours. Croatian Serbs still control part of the fertile and oil-rich eastern Slavonia area on the border with Serbia. Croatian officials claim the government of Serb-led rump Yugoslavia is massing tanks and troops along the border. Zagreb says it has no intention to launch any military operations in Slavonia but that it is willing to negotiate with local Serb officials. While the movement of Yugoslav troops toward the border caused some concern, U.N. military officials believe it was intended only as a show of force. 'It is a long way from Belgrade to the battle theater. This may just be a subtle message from Belgrade,' said U.N. military spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Vernon. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sharply criticized his estwhile mentor and ally, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, for failing to send in Yugoslav troops to protect Croatian Serbs. 'You started by giving in to international pressure and then merged that with betrayal, Karadzic told Milosevic in a letter made public over Bosnian Serb radio and television. He blamed Milosevic for the fall of Krajina, saying the Serbian leader was more interested in his political future and getting the United Nations to lift sanctions, than in the fate of the Serbs. 'You have turned your back on the Serb people,' he said, adding, 'I am afraid that you have let the Serbs fall into the hands of their enemies.' Meanwhile, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic traveled to Zagreb Tuesday for talks with his Croatian counterpart, Franjo Tudjman.
While the movement of Yugoslav troops toward the border caused some concern, U.N. military officials believe it was intended only as a show of force. 'It is a long way from Belgrade to the battle theater. This may just be a subtle message from Belgrade,' said U.N. military spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Vernon. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sharply criticized his estwhile mentor and ally, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, for failing to send in Yugoslav troops to protect Croatian Serbs. 'You started by giving in to international pressure and then merged that with betrayal, Karadzic told Milosevic in a letter made public over Bosnian Serb radio and television. He blamed Milosevic for the fall of Krajina, saying the Serbian leader was more interested in his political future and getting the United Nations to lift sanctions, than in the fate of the Serbs. 'You have turned your back on the Serb people,' he said, adding, 'I am afraid that you have let the Serbs fall into the hands of their enemies.' Meanwhile, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic traveled to Zagreb Tuesday for talks with his Croatian counterpart, Franjo Tudjman.
