SERBIAN FORCES START NEW HEAVY OFFENSIVE IN DECANI

( Editorial: --> 2665 ) PRISTINA, Aug 9 (Hina) - Serbian forces on Sunday morning began a new offensive on Albanian villages in the Decani area, in the western half of Kosovo, according to the Kosovo Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms. The villages attacked with the use of heavy artillery included Junika, Voksh and Carabrega, while later also attacked were the villages of Loxha near Pec and Dushkaj near Djakovica. For now there is no information available on casualties. Serbian sources have still not reported on new battles in that part of the southern Yugoslav province. The pro-Serbian government Media Centre in Pristina says that Kosovo Albanian forces during the past night had used automatic weapons to fire at police positions and Serb homes in four villages in the Klina municipality in the central part of Kosovo, but nobody had been killed or injured. Albanian sources said 32 Albanian villages had been set on fire and attacked with mortar in the Klina municipality during the latest Serbian offensive. As a result 11 Albanians had been killed, mostly women, children and the elderly, while several dozen people were wounded. (Hina) mbr 091414 MET aug 98