Fighting Prevents Food Relief From Reaching Sarajevo

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina —  No food relief reached Sarajevo on Wednesday as fighting raged in the city’s outskirts, and Bosnian defenders battled what they said was one of the heaviest Serbian tank offensives.

Outside the capital near the Croatian-held town of Kiseljak, a Danish U.N. peacekeeper was reported kidnaped by uniformed men.

The Dane, a corporal whose name was not released, was seen in the back of a car accompanied by two men wearing combat fatigues, said Sgt. Antonio de Frutos, a spokesman for the peacekeepers. The car failed to stop when flagged down, he said.

The worst fighting was in Otes, a suburb north of the airport, where government forces have been under attack for three days from Serbian artillery, tanks and mortars.

Bosnian officers claim Serbs used a Nov. 12 cease-fire, which has since collapsed, to move at least 10 tanks into position to attack Otes from three sides. They said the Serbian strategy was to forge a link between Ilidza to the west of Sarajevo and Rajlovac to the northwest.

About 6,000 people live in Otes, many of them refugees. Evacuation is difficult because of sniper fire and a shortage of cars.

The Bosnians reported 14 dead--nine troops and five civilians--and dozens wounded in Wednesday’s fighting. They were unsure of Serbian casualties.

More than 17,000 people have been killed and 110,000 wounded in a civil war that began after Bosnia’s Croatian and Muslim majority voted for independence in February, according to the Bosnian Health Ministry. More than 1 million people have been forced from their homes.

Serbian forces, backed by Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, have captured more than 70% of Bosnia. Croatian forces hold most of the rest.

Sarajevo’s vital relief airlift was suspended Tuesday after a U.S. Air Force transport plane was hit by small-arms fire while approaching the airport.

A truck convoy due in the city on Wednesday was held up in Vitez, to the northwest, because of fears of fighting. Officials said other convoys also could be delayed because key approaches to Sarajevo were considered too dangerous.

“This weighs heavily on the people of Sarajevo,” said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “We aren’t getting a chance to stockpile food for the winter.”

The airlift and truck convoys were scheduled to resume today, but more fighting could jeopardize those plans.