Nato has confirmed that one of its cluster bombs aimed at an airfield target in the Yugoslav city of Nis may have mistakenly hit a civilian area.
Fifteen people died after the daylight Nato strike, which hit a hospital and market place.
"This morning [Friday] Nato aircraft carried out an attack against Nis airfield using combined effects munitions [cluster bombs]. Unfortunately, it is highly probable that a weapon went astray and hit civilian buildings," a Nato military statement said.
Serb media and witnesses described the attacks on Nis - Yugoslavia's third city - as the heaviest of the campaign.
On Friday night, air raid sirens sounded again in Belgrade, and a BBC correspondent in the city confirmed that an attack was taking place - the first on the capital for several days.
The Western alliance has been pressing ahead with its bombing campaign, as negotiations with Russia for a Kosovo settlement continue.
BBC Correspondent Mike Williams, who visited Nis, says 15 people were killed after bombs hit two areas of the city about 11am. on Friday.
>>>> because of stupid decisions by our leaders and politicians at that time.>>> quote Robert Barry 1999
Local officials say 60 have been injured.
Our correspondent says he saw bodies lying in the market place and in a residential street near a hospital, with unexploded cluster bombs lying in the gardens of people's homes.
The daylight attack hit crowded streets, as people were no longer in the bomb shelters where they had spent the night. news.bbc.co.uk |