Macedonian forces began pounding rebel ethnic Albanian positions in the hills above the city of Tetovo today despite a rebel offer of a unilateral ceasefire.
Heavy guns appeared to be targeting rebel rear positions in hills in the Sar Planina range where the rebels have been holding several villages and a swathe of terrain for over a week.
But one shell hit the slope immediately above Tetovo, raising a plume of smoke.
Macedonia had earlier refused to comment on whether the rebel offer of a ceasefire was an adequate response to Skopje's ultimatum to the rebels to leave their posts by midnight last night or face an all-out offensive.