March 24 - NATO airstrikes begin. Belgrade police shut down the main independent broadcaster in Yugoslavia, B-92 radio, and arrest its chief editor. March 25 - NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark says NATO forces will ''systematically'' destroy the Yugoslav military unless Milosevic ends his offensive. Aides to Milosevic denounce the airstrikes as ''a grave crime against the people'' of Yugoslavia. The pilot of an American F-117A stealth fighter is rescued hours after his plane went down in Yugoslavia.
Officials plead for international help to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
March 30 - Talks between Russia's prime minister and Milosevic apparently fail to bring a breakthrough that would end NATO attacks on Serb forces. March 31 - Western officials acknowledge that NATO's missiles and bombs have so far failed to stop Belgrade's offensive in Kosovo. April 1 - Three captured U.S. soldiers are shown on Serbian television with dirt or abrasions on their faces. The three face charges by a Yugoslav military court. Tens of thousands of refugees, some packed shoulder to shoulder into train cars, pour out of Kosovo.