Muslim Town Shelled, May Fall to Serbs
TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The beleaguered Muslim enclave of Srebrenica came under fierce Serbian artillery and tank attack Thursday, hours after the town’s defenders blocked a U.N. evacuation of hundreds of civilians.
Serbian forces closed to within about a mile of Srebrenica, sources in nearby Tuzla said. Town officials were cited in radio reports as saying Srebrenica was on the verge of falling.
United Nations officials said Thursday night that Bosnian defenders were negotiating a surrender of Srebrenica to Serbian forces, perhaps as early as today, the New York Times reported in today’s editions.
The surrender would guarantee the safe evacuation of the 60,000 Muslim civilians in Srebrenica, the newspaper said in a report from Sarajevo.
Bosnian state radio said three people were killed as Serbs tightened their noose on Srebrenica, launching infantry and tank attacks from the east and southeast.
Srebrenica is one of only three eastern Bosnian enclaves still held by Muslims. Its fall would be a severe blow to the government cause.
Hours before the reported assault, a U.N. aid convoy left Srebrenica with only five elderly women on board after local leaders blocked a mass evacuation of refugees.
Thousands of wounded, sick or hungry people in the town want to join the exodus.
The U.N. refugee agency said the wounded were dying at a rate of five a day for lack of adequate treatment.
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