war so far

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Sun May 2 07:51:43 PDT 1999


Times (London) - May 2, 1999

THE WAR SO FAR

Duration: 39 days.

Attacks: More than 4,400 strikes on 500 target areas. Over 1,000 aircraft deployed, 11,000 sorties flown (320/day), with 600 sorties on Friday alone. 2,000 sorties flown in first 10 days (rising from 200/day to 390/day). 10 American B-52 bombers left this weekend for UK bases. 'Bunker busting' GBU-28 bomb, weighing 5,000 lbs, used for first time last week, in raid on Pristina airfield

NATO losses: 1 F117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, 1 Hunter pilotless reconnaissance drone, 2 German reconnaissance drones. Three Americans taken prisoner.

Serbian losses: Seven of Serbia's 15 MiG 29s destroyed, 12 MiG 21s, nine MI9 helicopters, and several ground-attack Super Galebs, hit during last week's attacks on Montenegro airbase. Military hangars, petroleum storage facilities, air-defence radar hit. Nato claims 30% of Yugoslavia's surface-to-air missile capability destroyed, and 10-20% of its tanks and armoured vehicles (30-60 tanks). Rail and road routes to Kosovo damaged. Railway station hit in Pozarevac.

Serbian casualties: Yugoslavs say more than 500 dead; about 150 civilians have been killed by Nato missiles veering off-target. At least 23 passengers in a bus killed in a Nato air raid on a bridge at Luzane, north of Pristina. Last week three people died in raid on Yugoslav army headquarters. In Montenegro, four killed and six injured in two air raids on bridge across river Lim. In Surdulica, 20 dead. Nato confirms attacks but has no casualty figures. Kosovan casualties: Between 200 to1,000 Ethnic Albanian men were massacred in Meja last week. Reports of 150 killed in Izbica, 60 killed in Celina, 50 in Pec, 53 in Orahovac and 34 in Veliska. Nato bombs are thought to have killed at least 13 Albanians in Pristina and Yugoslav government sources say 65 people died in Nato's attack on civilian convoys last week.

NATO Forces Deployed: Peacekeeping force of 13,000 in Macedonia, set to rise to16,000. 5,300 Nato troops in Albania for humanitarian operations, plus 5,500 American troops as part of Task Force Hawk to guard up to 48 Apache ground-attack helicopters.

Naval Forces include: US battle group of one cruiser, three destroyers and an escort; carrier battle group of USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier, two cruisers a frigate; amphibious landing ships and submarines. British ships include carrier HMS Invincible and the nuclear submarine HMS Splendid.

Total: Estimated cost has reached £3billion, with UK spending £40m a day.



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