A total of 11,000 refugees were thought to have returned home during the day. But peacekeepers and the United Nations are urging refugees to stay put until the mines have been cleared. It says it could be several weeks before Nato troops can clear the region of mines. Brigadier John Hoskinson of the peacekeeping force said Yugoslav forces had laid extensive minefields along the borders. Refugees also face dangers from unexploded Nato bombs dropped during the air campaign, and possible booby traps laid by retreating Serb forces.
Serb forces have four more days to withdraw from the rest of Kosovo.
Nearly 40,000 Serb civilians have left the province, according to Nato, dealing a blow to its hopes for a multi-ethnic province. On Wednesday, US troops serving with K-For disarmed 200 KLA fighters, who initially refused to give up their weapons. Six KLA fighters were led away in handcuffs after the incident. As international bodies are allowed back into the province, they are unearthing more signs of mass killings, committed by Serb forces in the last three months. And residents of Koronica in western Kosovo reported finding an estimated 150 buried bodies, said to be victims of a Serb massacre.