PRISTINA, Yugoslavia Three ethnic Albanians were killed and four wounded in clashes with a Yugoslav Army unit guarding the border between Albania and Kosovo Province early Monday, the Serbian Media Center said. Meanwhile, the main Albanian party in the province, the Kosovo Democratic League (LDK), said that the Yugoslav Army used artillery to attack two Albanian villages in the west of the province overnight Monday. The LDK said that the villages of Stergun and Hulaj near Decani, about ten kilometres from the border with Albania, were shelled with heavy artillery and flashing rockets.

The report could not be immediately confirmed by the Serbian sources. Airplanes and military helicopters flew above the villages during the operation which lasted till 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) Monday, the LDK said, adding that it feared there were dead and injured. The LDK claimed that numerous Albanian families had fled villages around Decani where they found shelter. On Sunday, nine ethnic Albanians killed in clashes with Yugoslav Army units in recent days were buried in the village slop, near Decani at a ceremony attended by 2,000 people.

It was expected that another 10 Albanians will be buried later Monday in the village of Erec, Albanian sources said. In the western part of Kosovo bordering Albania, clashes erupted last week between the Yugoslav Army and Kosovo Albanians in which at least 26 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo were killed. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the province's two million people, and are campaigning for independence from Belgrade. More than 100 ethnic Albanians and eight policemen have been killed since the beginning of March, when Serbian security forces launched a crackdown on separatist activity.

(AFP)