SKOPJE - Macedonia's army has pounded a northern village with fire from helicopter gunships and heavy artillery in an attempt to drive out ethnic Albanian rebels.
The insurgents answered with heavy mortars and machine guns, wounding two soldiers and a police officer.
Two helicopters fired rockets at the village of Slupcane
near the rugged border with Kosovo as ground troops fired artillery shells. The rebels responded with 82mm mortars.
The shelling came after civilians trying to leave Slupcane were forced to rush back when they came under rebel sniper fire, said Col Blagoja Markovski, a spokesman for the army.
Earlier, police in the nearby village of Matejce reported heavy mortar and sniper fire on their positions, and an officer was hit, Col Markovski said.
The insurgents say that they are fighting for greater rights and recognition for Macedonia's minority ethnic Albanians.
But the government contends they are terrorists bent on seizing territory and carving out an ethnic Albanian mini-state.
It launched a fresh offensive on Friday aimed at driving the militants out of the region.
"We will advance step by step until we restore order to these villages," said the Interior Minister, Ljuben Boskoski, as he toured Vaksince, a virtual ghost town of bullet-riddled houses and streets littered with spent shells.
"We will make every effort to facilitate the return of citizens to their homes this summer so they can resume a normal life," Mr Boskoski said.
"We will kick out every last terrorist. There's no doubt about it."
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