Its normal population of 4,500 has swollen to 10,000 because of the influx of people fleeing from other villages involved in the fighting. International humanitarian agencies say that only a handful of civilians left the battle zone during a lull in the fighting on Wednesday. It called on the government to investigate claims by civilians that government troops had beaten them and burned their houses earlier this month. The United Nations says 18,000 people have fled Macedonia since the beginning of the conflict, and 9,000 have been internally displaced. The Macedonian coalition, hailed as a major step forward when it was formed two weeks ago, almost fell apart last week when ethnic Albanian politicians signed a peace agreement with the rebels.
Macedonian politicians refuse to negotiate with the guerrillas.
The disagreements were patched up with the help of the European Union's security chief, Javier Solana. The parties have set 15 June as a deadline for substantial progress in calming ethnic tensions. Ethnic Albanians make up between a quarter and a third of Macedonia's population of two million.