Serbs Fire Mortars Into Civilian Area

Thousands of civilians and hundreds of Dutch peacekeepers huddled in shelters Thursday when Bosnian Serbs unleashed a barrage of shells on the eastern U.N. “safe area” of Srebrenica.

In Sarajevo, another U.N.-designated area supposedly off-limits to combat, at least six civilians were killed and 11 were wounded by mortar fire.

The peacekeepers’ main base at Potocari, in the northern part of the Srebrenica enclave, was hit by at least 10 shells, and a Dutch observation post on Srebrenica’s southeastern front was damaged by Bosnian Serb tank and mortar fire, said U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko.

None of the 450 Dutch peacekeepers was hurt, but two civilians were killed and an unknown number were wounded, said Lt. Col. Gary Coward, another U.N. spokesman. Bosnian radio reported four dead and 17 wounded and predicted the casualty count would rise once the shelling subsided long enough to allow the victims to be collected.

At least one shell reportedly hit a refugee center in Srebrenica, but there were no immediate details. The enclave is home to an estimated 42,000 Bosnian Muslims.

Coward said the Serb rebels also attacked the enclave’s northern and southern perimeters.