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Some Kosovars are reported to have fled their villages to hide in nearby mountains and forests  ALSO Albright suggests some Serb forces could stay in Kosovo Missing relief worker 'confesses' to spying on Serb TV NATO: Aerial photo may show mass graves in Kosovo

April 11, 1999
Web posted at: 10:33 p.m. EDT (0233 GMT)

In this story: Kosovar refugee flow down to trickle NATO, U.S. allege mass graves, human shields RELATED STORIES, SITES

LONDON (CNN) -- With Yugoslavian forces allegedly suppressing the exodus of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, hundreds of thousands of Kosovars have fled into the woods and the flow of refugees leaving the Serbian province has dropped to a trickle, NATO and U.N. officials said Sunday.

As many as 400,000 displaced ethnic Albanians may be hiding in Kosovo's mountains and forests, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said.

Cook, citing an official of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army, said the refugees are hiding from Serb-led Yugoslav forces "who would otherwise kill or deport them."

Hashim Thaci, a political representative of the KLA in Kosovo, described the situation of the displaced Kosovars as "very serious," Cook said.

"In his words, they lack the basic elements of life and are particularly short of food," Cook said.

Kosovar refugee flow down to trickle

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Sunday, fewer than 7,000 ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo into Albania and Montenegro during the past day.

"The pattern in the past couple of days has slowed down because Serbs are not letting people out," UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Dean said.

Estimates for the number of people who have left the province now top 500,000. The bulk of those have gone to neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

Brian Atwood, the U.S. coordinator for Kosovo relief, said one reason Yugoslavia closed off its borders last week was to prevent more stories of atrocities from leaking into the international media.

Vladislav Jovanovic, the Yugoslav charge d'affaires at the United Nations, vehemently denied those reports Sunday.

"That kind of accusation, together with similar other accusations, is a part of NATO aggressors to hide the illegality and barbarity of their own devastation on one small and innocent people," Jovanovic told CNN.

NATO, U.S. allege mass graves, human shields

NATO officials in Brussels displayed aerial photographs Sunday of what they said may be mass graves in the Kosovo town of Orahovac, near the provincial capital of Pristina.

Furthermore, Atwood said, ethnic Albanians massed at the border were being turned back and used as shields against NATO missiles.

"We have seen evidence of tank columns moving along the road, with refugees walking on both sides of the tanks," he said. "There is no question they are being used for human shields."

NATO governments have warned that any evidence of war crimes will be turned over to an international tribunal.

More than 29 countries are contributing to the Kosovo refugee relief efforts, according to NATO. The alliance announced Saturday it will mobilize 8,000 troops into the region for humanitarian purposes.

Karen Robbins, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-based humanitarian relief group CARE, said conditions have improved greatly from the "absolutely abysmal" scenes early in the refugee crisis.

"We are in the process of getting (the refugees) registered, getting them adequate shelter in tents and other housing and making sure they can be reunited with their families," Robbins said.

Families in Albania and Macedonia have offered temporary shelter to some refugees, as have several NATO countries. But most of the Kosovars do not want to resettle in other nations, Robbins said.

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