Peace Plan Highlights | Photo Gallery | Strike Assessment | News Video Archive | Strike at a Glance | Who's Who | Roots of the Conflict | Story Archive | Links | Discussion

Aftermath in Belgrade on Saturday morning
RELATED VIDEO Serbian TV broadcast of fires in central Belgrade early Saturday, April 3, after an airstrike Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery. Real Windows Media   28 K 80 K
Newborns wrapped in blankets and their mothers were evacuated after missiles fell about 20 meters from a maternity ward, Serbian TV reported
IMAGE GALLERY: In defense of hallowed ground: The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO: NATO: Yugoslav forces expel 290,000 ethnic Albanians Voices of the refugees Government takes over independent Yugoslav radio station Montenegro fears Yugoslav takeover Belgrade attacked; Yugoslav calls captured soldiers 'safe'  Maps NATO officials describe attacks from day one through day nine

April 3, 1999
Web posted at: 10:03 a.m. EST (1503 GMT)

In this story: Beefing up NATO weapons Pentagon says strikes damaging Yugoslav morale Bombing disrupts fuel supplies Serbia airs NATO damage footage Yugoslav coup plans for Montenegro RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- As daylight broke across Belgrade Saturday, Serb authorities began to assess the full extent of damage wreaked by the first NATO missile strikes at the heart of the Yugoslav capital.

Cruise missiles launched from U.S. Navy ships in the Adriatic Sea slammed into the Yugoslavian and Serbian ministries of internal affairs -- rated key sites on the NATO target list.

CNN's Brent Sadler reported from Belgrade that giant sheets of flames leapt from the two government buildings.

Serbian television reported that the nearby University Hospital Clinic, one of Belgrade's main hospitals, narrowly missed being hit. The state-run TV broadcaster reported that the maternity ward was evacuated after a missile exploded 20 meters from the ward.

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Draskovic expressed outrage at the attack, saying it was reminiscent of 1941, when Nazi Germany bombarded Belgrade for three straight days in early April, followed by a German ground offensive that entered the city on Easter Sunday.

"Tomorrow is Easter. Downtown Belgrade is in flames," he told CNN. "They're pushing Europe very close to European war -- to disaster of our mankind. Please, give chance to peace. Stop the bombing."

The attack marked the first time NATO has hit the heart of Belgrade. A senior U.S. administration official told CNN that better weather over Yugoslavia allowed a "deeper target list" and that NATO was going after "high-value" targets it had wanted to hit for several days.

"We have been frustrated by our inability to ratchet it up and are getting at least a little break today," the official said.

Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said the missiles were striking "at the core of the regime's ability to conduct the campaign against the Kosovar Albanians."

NATO may get some extra firepower. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is due to enter the Mediterranean early Saturday. Bacon said he would not be surprised if that ship was ordered into the Adriatic for use in Operation Allied Force.

That move would give NATO 40 to 50 extra combat planes to fly more sorties over Yugoslavia.

On Saturday, after the cruise missiles struck, many Belgrade residents were seen walking the streets in a daze -- some cried, while others voiced outrage.

About two hours after the initial explosions, the flames had died down.

The Pentagon confirmed NATO struck targets in central Belgrade. Officials said seven Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles, or T-LAMs, were fired at the two targets from the USS Philippine Sea and the USS Norfolk, a submarine, in the Adriatic around midnight Friday Yugoslav time.

Another T-LAM was fired by the British submarine HMS Splendid at an air defense-related target in an undisclosed location.

Bad weather over the Balkans Saturday forced NATO to cancel planned daytime flights.

The alliance was also investigating reports that its aircraft had ditched two missiles in Albania after aborting a mission against Yugoslavia in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In London, Doug Henderson, British Minister of State for the Armed Forces, said the latest round of attacks on Belgrade had hit the headquarters buildings controlling the "notorious" Serb police force -- a paramilitary force he blamed for brutal attacks on ethnic Albanian Kosovars.

"This so-called police force is in reality a ruthless paramilitary organization, equipped with a full range of military hardware, including heavy machine guns, and armored personnel carriers," Henderson said.

"Its weapon of choice for attacking villages is an anti- aircraft cannon. It has been the main organization responsible for the brutal killings and mass depopulation that's going on in Kosovo."

He also said the attack on central Belgrade set the pattern for future attacks.

"NATO will today be stepping up still further its response to this crisis," Henderson said.

"NATO's attacks will continue and can be intensified even further if necessary.

Henderson said the time would soon arrive when NATO's full force of 250 combat aircraft would be able to operate unhindered by bad weather.

Firefighters try to put out blazes after NATO strike

NATO has directed more force in recent days at Yugoslav army supply lines, and those attacks are damaging soldiers' morale, the Pentagon said earlier Friday.

"The forces are clearly more wary of being hit. They've had to disperse more and are having a harder time operating in large, coherent units," Bacon said.

When asked how the United States knew about morale in the Yugoslav army, Bacon said the Pentagon had a wide array of sources.

The B-1 bomber flew its first mission Thursday night, attacking some Yugoslav army staging areas in Kosovo. Bacon said the objective was to weaken the soldiers' ability to carry out oppression in Kosovo.

NATO spokesmen Jamie Shea and British Air Commodore David Wilby said Friday the sustained NATO airstrikes were creating fuel shortages for the Yugoslav army and Serb police units and were somewhat slowing the military crackdown in Kosovo.

News Highlights: Gallery: The conflict in review News story archive Yugoslavia's Future: What's next for Yugoslavia Map: Who controls what The Peace Settlement: A guide to the peace plan Map: Serb troop withdrawal The Military Campaign: Strike damage assessment Atlas: NATO and the Balkans Background: Timeline: Trouble in the Balkans A who's who of key players Map: Kosovo and its neighbors A history of the KLA

Wilby said that more than a week of NATO airstrikes had forced the Yugoslav army to hide its tanks or take up positions in deserted villages and towns.

"This cat-and-mouse activity is causing them to use up critical fuel supplies," Wilby said. A field brigade was immobilized Thursday by a lack of fuel, he said.

NATO bombings against key army supply routes, support facilities and field forces will continue unabated, he said.

Among the targets hit in the recent NATO attack were a bridge in Novi Sad and field force targets in the Pagarusa Valley, where Serbs were said to have shelled ethnic Albanians.

Serbian TV reported Friday that NATO missiles hit an army barracks in the town of Vranje in southeastern Serbia.

The Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency said NATO jets struck near the western Kosovo town of Klina, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Pristina.

It was the first reported attack near Klina, located along a major road junction used by Serbian forces.

Also, a NATO jet fired missiles Friday at the television transmitter on Mount Cvilen above the southern city of Prizren but missed, the agency said.

In London, British officials charged that Milosevic was plotting a coup to replace Milo Djukanovic, president of the Yugoslav province of Montenegro.

"Mr. Milosevic wants to replace President Djukanovic by a man of his own choosing. Although I cannot give you the details today, I can say that I have evidence to show that he's preparing a coup against Montenegro," said Defense Ministry spokesman Edgar Buckley.

"As a first step, he has already replaced the army commander, General Martinovic, by a new general who can be relied upon to follow his orders," Buckley said.

The Pentagon said that should Yugoslav forces move into Montenegro they would face intensified attacks from NATO.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.