Hunger As an Instrument of War

BLACE, MACEDONIA--Serbian troops are turning a new weapon on the people of Kosovo: hunger. Refugees crossing the border into Macedonia in recent days have been emaciated and faint. "The Serb forces are shelling villages to push civilians into enclaves and then cut off their food supply," says Lindsey Davies, spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The experience of the village of Slovia, in central Kosovo, is typical. Ethnic Albanian refugees say their Serbian neighbors told them not to fear when troops surrounded the village on April 15. "They said, `Don't get excited, the Army only wants to meet with you,' " recalls Rasim, who declined to give his last name because family members remain in Kosovo. Panicked villagers tried to flee. Some were shot.

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