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An explosion lights up the sky above Novi Sad RELATED VIDEO British Defense Ministry shows video of selected sites being hit during NATO missions Tuesday ( April 6) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Brent Sadler reports from a small town hit during NATO airstrikes, Tuesday (April 6) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Patricia Kelly reports on NATO plans to deploy 24 Apache attack helicopters (April 5) 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.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY: Belgrade cruise missile strike The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO Airstrikes hit home in a small Serbian town More Kosovo refugees flown out of Macedonia Pentagon: Yugoslavia considers captured soldiers POWs  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo  MAPS NATO officials describe attacks from day one through day thirteen

April 6, 1999
Web posted at: 11:51 a.m. EDT (1551 GMT)

In this story: At least four dead in Aleksinac Novi Sad hit again Britain says NATO remains determined RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO on Tuesday immediately rejected an offer by Yugoslavia for a unilateral cease-fire to mark the Orthodox Easter. The alliance insisted that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must end the crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and allow the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

"To honor the biggest Christian holiday, Easter, all actions of the army and police will stop in Kosovo against the terrorist organization KLA, starting April 6 at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. EDT)," said a government statement carried by Serbian TV.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nebojsa Vujovic told CNN that Yugoslavia would be approaching international aid agencies to discuss the return of the Kosovo refugees.

Vujovic also said the cease-fire would be open-ended. But Washington immediately rejected the offer.

"We've made very clear that any hollow, half measures will not stop the bombing," said David Leavy, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council.

Earlier Tuesday, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said that NATO allies were anticipating an offer from Milosevic to end hostilities that would fall well short of Western demands.

"At this stage we are not ready to settle for anything less than our objectives," Shea told a news conference.

NATO made clear Tuesday that its airstrikes would continue unabated.

NATO launched four waves of nighttime attacks against Yugoslavia Tuesday, hitting a broad range of military targets but also causing civilian casualties when apartment buildings were hit.

Allied planes pummeled military command and control centers, fuel and ammunition dumps, communications and air defense sites as well as tanks, artillery and barracks.

However, the Yugoslav government said the NATO bombings were killing civilians. In Moscow, Yugoslav Ambassador Borislav Milosevic, the brother of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, said 300 civilians had been killed and 3,000 others wounded in the 14-day NATO bombing campaign.

At least four dead in Aleksinac

Two large explosions tore through apartment blocks and what appeared to be civilian homes in the town of Aleksinac, about 100 miles south of Belgrade, early Tuesday.

The Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency said Tuesday that 10 apartment buildings were destroyed and an entire street was obliterated in Aleksinac, a town of 17,000.

CNN correspondent Brent Sadler reported that at least four people were killed and that a medical clinic used by civilians had also been hit.

Taken to the scene by Yugoslav officials, Sadler said elderly men and women were among the casualties. One woman said she had saved two of her children but had to leave other family members beneath the rubble.

Fire crews were trying to put out blazes at gutted apartment blocks, Sadler reported.

"I think what I'm seeing here is the largest civilian casualty toll since the beginning of NATO airstrikes," Sadler said. "I saw quite clearly that these were civilian homes. I saw body parts inside these buildings."

Novi Sad hit again

In Novi Sad, Yugoslavia's second-largest city, an orange fireball lit up the sky overnight. Serbian TV said an oil refinery had been hit.

The city's only standing bridge was also hit by missiles but not destroyed, Serb officials said.

The main road linking Belgrade with the Serb province of Kosovo was also hit, and British officials -- speaking at a news conference in London -- showed gun camera video of a fuel dump at Pristina being struck by bombs.

Britain says NATO remains determined

British Defense Minister George Robertson said if reports of civilian casualties are true, "then this is, of course, regrettable. But as we've always said: Despite all our efforts, such casualties will occur in a campaign of this size and complexity."

British defense officials said that an estimated 1.1 million Kosovo Albanians, out of a total population of 1.8 million, had been driven from their homes by the Serb campaign of ethnic cleansing.

"Over half a million people (are) being driven into exile and suffering by Milosevic's brutal ethnic campaign. Many of those are at risk and some of them will almost certainly die. And it is that weight of tragedy which NATO is working to stop," said Robertson.

With clear skies in the forecast and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt scheduled to join the action, Wednesday night's campaign was expected to be the biggest yet, NATO officials said.

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