NATO sources said yesterday they had a report that up to 1,000 Serbian soldiers deserted their unit in Kosovo after hearing that riot police had waded into an anti-war demonstration in their home town.
They said about three battalions based at Istok, in western Kosovo, commandeered vehicles and left with their weapons, firing them in the air, after commanders failed to deter them.
The soldiers, from a brigade made up 80 per cent of conscripts, headed for the town of Krusevac, where anti-war protests against the policies of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic have been going on for the past three days.
Women among the demonstrators are said to have displayed placards saying they want "sons not coffins".
"The report we have says the conscripts heard about the treatment of their families in Krusevac over Radio Free Europe. They got into trucks after some scuffles and headed for home," according to a NATO source.
"We're told one lot took the Pristina to Nis road where there's a PJP [special police] checkpoint and they shot their way through when the police tried to stop them. The others warned police on their route that they were coming and they were armed and to get out of their way."
There was no immediate means of checking the report independently.