Macedonia's Interior Minister Ljube Boshkovski today said security forces had entered the village of Vakcince, a guerrilla stronghold for the past three weeks of fighting.
An hour and a half ago, our forces took the first house of Vakcince, the minister told reporters on the government force's front line about a kilometer from the village.
"This most important thing is that we have no casualties and there are no civilian casualties," he said, adding that the first group of civilians would be evacuated shortly.
Mr Boshkovski said troops would go through Vakcince house by house to avoid civilian casualties. While the minister was talking, two shots flew close by.
Guerrillas said seven civilians were killed in nearby Slupcane, six of them from the same family sheltering in a basement hit by an artillery shell.