Following five days of intensive investigation, NATO is convinced that its bombing of two convoys on the Dakovica road was aimed at valid military targets but that refugees were used as human shields.
US Brig Gen Daniel Leaf, commander of the Aviano air base in Italy, gave a special briefing at NATO yesterday, to clarify the events - the "mistake" - of April 14th in Kosovo. "I will tell you what I know, he said, "and what we have enough information to believe."
Between 10.30 and 13.20, in two separate locations, NATO aircraft dropped nine GVU 12, 500 pound laser guided bombs. The two separate target areas included a small group of vehicles north-west of Dakovica and the other a very large convoy on a major road, east-south-east of Dakovica, going towards Prizren.
"To put the bottom line up front," he said, "NATO aircraft struck the first target area with two bombs and may have hit a civilian-type vehicle connected with the burning houses and in the second attack, they may have struck the lead elements of the convoy, vehicles that appeared to be military. Some of them may have been civilian-type vehicles and it is possible there were civilian casualties at both locations."
There were different types of aircraft flying that day. Some were surveillance and some were attack aircraft to follow up on the reports of the surveillance craft.
The pilot, whose report was made public last week, left the air base in Italy and when flying over the north-western area of Kosovo saw towns and villages burning. He watched a vehicle leave one house that was burning and then move to another house which erupted in flames. When people ran from the house, got into the vehicle and drove to another house, he concluded they were responsible for the burning. They were joined by two other vehicles which also appeared to be military.
The pilot dropped a single GBU laser guided bomb on the lead vehicle and then left the area to refuel, passing on his co-ordinates.
Meanwhile, another unmanned aircraft passed over the area "imaging" the site of the attack. These pictures were shown to the briefing with the other vehicles gathered around the one that had been struck. In the background was a distinctive C-shaped building complex shown on Serbian television that day, the general said.
A large convoy of over 100 vehicles was observed to the east-south-east made up of similar vehicles. The lead 20 vehicles were uniform in shape, colour, and distance between them. It was concluded that they were military.
They opened fire on the convoy. One bomb missed its target vehicle but the next vehicle ran off the road. One was destroyed. Serb anti-aircraft fired on the NATO planes with a burst height of about 13,000 feet. They did not hit any of the NATO aircraft.
There was constant communication between the air base and aircraft and at one point intelligence specialists noted that Serb military vehicles don't often travel in convoys.
A slower aircraft equipped with space-stabilised binoculars was sent to check out the convoy and the attack was suspended. This flight established that there were definitely military vehicles in the convoy but that there were also multi-coloured, possibly civilian vehicles among them.
The Serbian government brought journalists to the east-south-east area of Dakovica one day later, when the only vehicles to be seen by the journalists were civilian ones. The commander said that some of the journalists reported the victims appeared to have been machine-gunned - not bombed. Other reports from the OSCE revealed that Serb forces attacked a convoy near Dakovica with aircraft using cluster munitions and grenades thrown from helicopters.
Witnesses said they had observed a refugee column being attacked by Serb mortars at the same time as the NATO attack. They said Serb aircraft attacked the refugees to the rear.
Britain yesterday backed plans to turn Kosovo into an international protectorate. The Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, told parliament the international community would have to have a more "hands on" role in the future of the Serbian province than envisaged under a draft peace plan.
Public support in Britain for the NATO bombing raids appears to be remaining constant despite the bombing of a column of refugees, according to two polls released last night.
A survey for the Guardian shows 57 per cent of those asked over the weekend said NATO strikes should continue. An NOP poll for GMTV found 55 per cent support for the air strikes.