Heavy shelling was reported Sunday around the northwestern town of Bosanska Krupa, where forces of the Muslim-led Bosnian government army were attempting to dislodge the Bosnian Serbs.
An artillery exchange between Serbs and Muslims in the suburbs of Sarajevo only abated after the United Nations called in NATO warplanes to fly over the rival positions.The United Nations protested to the Bosnian government about the Sarajevo clashes. "It's not in the interests of peace," said Gen. Sir Michael Rose, commander of U.N. troops in Bosnia.
Commenting on the military situation in northwestern Bosnia, U.N. spokesman Maj. Herve Gourmelon said: "There was heavy fighting in Bosanska Krupa with an unspecified number of heavy casualties on both sides."
Government forces have been attacking the town since launching an offensive 11 days ago, forcing Serbs to retreat in northwest and central Bosnia and taking some 95 square miles of territory in the Bihac pocket alone.
The multipronged Muslim assault in northwestern, central and eastern Bosnia severely stretched limited Bosnian Serb manpower and hampered movement of their armor, forcing them for the first in the 31-month-old war to yield large swaths of territory to their hitherto poorly armed foes.
By Sunday, however, there were increasing signs that the Serbs were beginning to fight back around Bihac.
A Reuters television crew reported that the Serbs had taken high ground at Cukovi, a point about 12 miles southeast of Bihac.