ONLY SEVERAL PERSONS HAVE CROSSED CROATIAN-YUGOSLAV BORDER

TOVARNIK/ILOK, March 25 (Hina) - The situation at the Croatian- Yugoslav border is normal following Wednesday night's and Thursday morning's NATO strikes on military targets in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, deputy head of the Vukovar-Srijem County police Zeljko Simundic told Hina on Thursday. Strict surveillance measures at the state border with the FRY are still in effect, he added. During a two-hour long stay of Hina's reporter at the Tovarnik border crossing, only several Croatian citizens from the FRY, who have relatives in Croatia, crossed the border. Border police at the Ilok border crossing reported the number of crossings did not exceed the usual, adding the only unusual thing was that young people with travel bags and suitcases were crossing the border. According to the border official, those persons are Croatian citizens who either study or work in the FRY, and are leaving the FRY due to the current situation. Several detonations, coming from the direction of Novi Sad (in the northern Yugoslav province of Vojvodina), were heard in Ilok on Wednesday night. The night was also interrupted by the sound of air- raid alert from Backa Palanka, Vojvodina. The railway traffic between Croatia and Yugoslavia remains cancelled. (hina) it jn/rml