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Macedonian Troops Continue Bombardment Against Albanian Rebels
Macedonian security forces Saturday continued their bombardment against the ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Aracinovo, which is only 10 kilometers from the capital of Skopje, Macedonia's MIA news agency reported.
"The main goals of the operation are to neutralize the terrorists and create conditions for the safe return of the citizens to the village," Antonio Milosovski, a spokesman for the Macedonian government, told a press conference.
He said that on Friday the Macedonian security forces destroyed nine bunkers, six machine-gun nests, two mortar points, one command post, one weapons and ammunition storage, and one position guarded by 10 armed ethnic Albanians.
Security forces had beaten back one group of "terrorists" who tried to reinforce those in Aracinovo, Milosovski added.
Ethnic Albanian guerrillas had occupied Aracinovo for two weeks and they threatened to "stage assaults against Skopje with the airport, oil refineries and police stations as the main targets."
The Democratic Prosperity Party (PDP), one of the two main ethnic Albanian ruling parties taking part in the dialogue, declared that it would quit the talks and exit the Macedonian coalition government if security forces go on with their attack.
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