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reinforcements in the town of Srbica in mid-March, who were stationed at the ammunitions factory located there. Towards the end of the month, these forces were utilised in a number of further operations in Drenica, while access to the area was cut off to international monitors. Despite this restriction, the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM), who conducted patrols throughout the FRY, as well as in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and FYROM, noted a police convoy entering the Drenica region on the road from Pristina to Pec on 31 March, including one armoured personnel carrier (APC), accompanied by a VJ truck containing soldiers with the appearance of being conscripts.

At the beginning of April, the Drenica region was reopened to the ECMM, who reported that the police (MUP) did not appear to be in control of much of the area, although they were continuing to increase their presence and create heavily fortified bunkers and checkpoints on the major roads. All the police thus encountered were dressed in standard blue uniforms bearing the "milicija" insignia and some were clearly special units, who wore distinctive shoulder flashes with the PJP emblem. On patrol on 4 April, the ECMM noted that the village of Donje Obilic, to the south west of Srbica, in Drenica, bore the evidence of fighting and appeared deserted, local police complaining of attacks by the UCK. The ECMM further noted that the UCK seemed to have established a strong presence and concluded that by mid April they controlled a corridor from Sedlare through Lapusnik to Rezala. The VJ had also established a camp east of the road from Pristina to Kosovska Mitrovica by mid-April and, on 23 April, the ECMM observed four VJ tanks and a number of APCs about two kilometres east of Komorane. Reports of action by MUP forces on 21 April, in the area of Lausa, described the shelling of villages by armoured vehicles, possibly including tanks.

In the region bordering Albania, particularly around Djakovica, the ECMM also reported a clear build up of police and military forces. The VJ had established a semi-permanent base at a factory north of Djakovica and by the end of April there was some firing upon villages in the Decane area. Local press sources confirmed such attacks, particularly on the villages of Ponoshec and Morina.

In addition to the operations in Drenica and on the border around Decane, towards the end of April offensive operations by the Serbian/FRY forces had spread to the area of Dukagjin, around Jablanica. According to the local press, many villages were being subjected to shelling from a distance while the surrounding roads were blocked in order to prevent access to journalists, international observers and organisations and the distribution of humanitarian aid. The press further reported that the town of Klina was being targeted by Serbian/FRY forces at the end of April, along with Sicevo, to the east of Klina, and Resnik.

It seems that the UCK had a base in Glodjane, in the north-east Decane area, from which it had easy access to weapons being brought across the border from Albania. At the end of April, the ECMM noted that it appeared to be gaining in strength, particularly in the area of Lausa and south of the road from Srbica to Klina. However, at the beginning of May there were many reports that Serbian/FRY forces were conducting operations in the border area, with the apparent intent to divide the UCK strongholds around Decane from those in Drenica, as well as to separate them from Albania. Official sources maintained that all clashes in the border region were the consequence of efforts to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Kosovo by Albanian terrorists, although the Kosovar press continually