Croatian air force backs Bosnian rebel attack

By JOSEPH CHRYSDALE

SARAJEVO -- Bosnian Croatian forces, supported by warplanes from neighboring Croatia, Sunday pounded with rockets and mortar shells the central Bosnian area near Prozor in an intensified attack on government- held positions, Bosnia-Herzegovina army officials said.

A Croatian aircraft and two helicopters fired 16 rockets on villages near Prozor, 35 miles (60 km) west of Sarajevo, capital of the Muslim- led Bosnian government, state-run Radio Sarajevo quoted military officials as saying.

The rockets caused no casualties, the radio said.

Bosnian Croat militia fired at least 12 mortar shells at government positions in the Prozor area as part of an offensive in central Bosnia, the radio said.

Bosnian Serb forces joined Bosnian Croat militia Sunday in an attack on the government-held town of Maglaj, a predominantly Muslim enclave 60 miles (100 km) north of Sarajevo, pummeling it with tank, mortar and howitzer shells.

In the Visoko area, 20 miles (30 km) norethwest of Sarajevo, Bosnian Serbs fired at least 40 artillery shells on civilian targets Sunday, killing one person and wounding another six, Sarajevo radio said.

Later in the day, Bosnian Serb forces began shelling government positions.

At the U.N. Protection Force base in Kiseljak, nearby Visoko, UNPROFOR spokesman French Capt. Guy Vinet said a British U.N. battalion in central Bosnia concluded an investigation into an alleged massacre in the Muslim village of Here, east of Prozor, and found no evidence of an atrocity committed by Bosnian Croat forces.

'The British battalion found no signs of atrocity against the local Bosnian villagers,' Vinet said.

The government accused Bosnian Croat HVO militia of overrunning Here two weeks ago and killing more than 20 Muslim soldiers and civilians.

In Sarajevo, UNPROFOR spokesman Maj. Jose Labandeira said had 66 shells fired from Serb-held positions hit Sarajevo Saturday and none were fired in return.

Ron Redmond of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Bosnian authorities were investigating an attack in which a British aid workers was killed and two wounded by unidentified gunmen at the central town of Zenica.

'We understand that at least three people are being questioned,' Redmond said.

He said UNHCR's chief of mission for Bosnia, Karen Abu Zayd, met with the mayor of Zenica, local and military police in Zenica Saturday.

Britain suspended its humanitarian aid operation in Bosnia Friday after one British relief convoy driver died and two others were wounded in the ambush near Zenica.

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