Macedonian artillery and helicopters attacked ethnic Albanian rebels in a string of villages today just before fresh talks among government coalition partners aimed at ending the crisis.
Giving details of the army attack in the Matejce area, defence ministry spokesman Mr Georgi Trendafilov told reporters in the town of Kumanovo: "Army helicopters spotted a column of Albanian terrorists who were trying to take positions near the monastery. The column was destroyed. There were between 20 and 30."
A rebel commander named Shpati has denied the claim, saying: "This is Macedonian propaganda. They want to win the war with words."
He said his forces were holding their positions and one guerrilla soldier had been lightly wounded.
In its latest assault, the army targeted four northeastern villages held by guerrillas since a five-month-old insurgency flared up again in early May.
The government has accused the guerrillas of using the mainly ethnic Albanian civilians as human shields. It said concerns for their welfare has resulted in slow progress on the battlefield.
President Boris Trajkovski was to resume talks this evening with the main parties in Macedonia's ethnically mixed coalition, with the aim of ending the violence.
The dialogue is to address the grievances of the country's ethnic Albanian minority, who say they face discrimination in all walks of life, including education and employment.
But a leading ethnic Albanian politician, Mr Arben Xhaferi, said the rebel National Liberation Army (NLA) should join the talks.
Mr Xhaferi was last week persuaded by European Union foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana to set aside a peace pact he signed with the guerrillas which threatened to wreck the coalition.
Today’s talks were also expected to include discussion of Trajkovski's proposal for a partial amnesty for guerrillas, which would exclude the ringleaders.