document: There were no official reports of casualties . But Slovene Defense Minister Janez Jansa said in a television interview that fighting was going on in at least 20 places in Slovenia , and he estimated there were more than 100 dead and wounded on both sides . He claimed six government helicopters had been downed . `` To put it briefly , Slovenia is at war , '' he said . Reuters news service reported from Ljubljana that thousands of local defense forces were patrolling with automatic weapons . Outside the Slovene capital , government armored vehicles smashed through barricades and road blocks , leaving a trail of twisted metal , flattened cars and shattered glass . In Croatia , the army moved into areas where fighting erupted between Croats and minority Serbs , Yugoslavia 's two largest nationalities and historic rivals . Four people had been killed and 14 hurt Wednesday . The first shooting between the federal army and the militias occurred here , in the mountains that mark the border with Austria . Throughout the morning , federal soldiers , some bearing bazookas , fanned out in the woods surrounding the Slovenia customs house . Meanwhile , tanks and artillery wound up the narrow mountain pass . In midafternoon , the customs house was rattled with a burst of rifle fire and a few minutes later it was rocked by three projectiles from anti-tank guns . The blasts left holes in the roof and walls and shattered windows in the house . The Slovenes , about three dozen strong , waved a white sheet from one of the windows , laid down their weapons and were marched down the road . None of them seemed to be injured . The scene was like something out of the U.S. Civil War , where civilians gathered for picnics to watch the early battles . Here , the drama was watched by several Yugoslavs trying to return to their country from Austria ; the cooks , waitresses and a few guests at restaurants on both sides of the border ; several tourists who were caught on the Yugoslav side ; and a dozen Austrian customs officers and policemen . Those on the Austrian side gathered near the restaurant 's beer garden and watched through binoculars as the army soldiers moved through the forest , and then they scrambled for cover when shots were fired . No spectators were harmed . Slovenes watching the action were horrified , as the consequences of their independence grab became clear . `` Yesterday we had a big party , and today we 're fighting , '' moaned Bogataj Vejko , a truck driver from near Ljubljana , who had safely crossed the border early in the morning and was now trying to get back home . `` We were hoping it would n't come to this . '' After the shooting stopped , he talked to a group of the federal soldiers , and discovered that some were conscripts from Slovenia . `` This is what we have come to , '' he said . `` Slovenes shooting at Slovenes . '' After the army established control , Milan Jelen , a Slovene businessman , reached into the backseat of his car and retrieved his son 's toy slingshot . `` Now I 'll go at them myself , '' he joked . Then he turned serious , scoffing , `` Some independence . '' Emil Herlec , a leader of the local Slovene mountain rescue team , scrambled up the mountain , through the woods , when he heard the shooting . `` The first shots that have been fired in Slovenia since after World War II , '' he said . `` If we want our freedom , we will now have to defend it . '' In Ljubljana , Milan Kucan , Slovenia 's president , vowed in a television address that the republic 's militia would respond with `` all methods '' to any aggression against his `` independent state . '' He called on Slovenes in the federal army to desert and join the republic 's militia . In Croatia , officials also vowed to defend their sovereignty . But the poorly trained and equipped Slovene and Croatian militias , formed in the past several months , are no match for the 180,000-strong federal army . The local militias also have nothing to counter the central government 's several thousand tanks and other armored vehicles , not to mention the government 's air forces . Politically , the two republics ' declarations of independence have been ignored by the rest of the world , which supports a united Yugoslavia . So far , no foreign countries have recognized Slovenian and Croatian independence . On the contrary , the European Community and the U.S. have lobbied heavily for the maintainance of the Yugoslav state , and have threatened to withhold millions of dollars in aid if the country breaks up . But U.S. Secretary of State James Baker appealed to Belgrade to find a way for Croatia and Slovenia to express their `` national aspirations '' through `` negotiations and dialogue '' rather than bloodshed . Mr. Baker and White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater had suggested to reporters Wednesday that the breakaway republics be granted greater autonomy and sovereignty within a united Yugoslavia . The federal army , dominated by Serbs , has long warned that it wo n't stand by while the country disintegrates . And on Tuesday night , after the two republics declared their independence , the federal parliament called on the army to intervene . In a letter to Slovenia 's premier , Gen. Konrad Kolsek of the federal military district that controls Slovenia said he had orders to seize all border crossings and would `` crush '' any resistence . The independence declarations came after months of unsuccessful negotiations among the leaders of the six republics over the post-Cold War shape of Yugoslavia . The Communist leadership of Serbia , Yugoslavia 's largest republic , insists on strong central control from Belgrade , the capital of both Serbia and Yugoslavia . The nationalist governments of Slovenia and Croatia have been demanding a looser confederation of sovereign republics . Serbian attempts to deny Croatia and Slovenia their independence are motivated by two fears . They worry that the 600,000 Serbs living in Croatia -LRB- about 11 % of that republic 's population -RRB- will be discriminated against by the Croatian government . And they fear losing the economic support of Slovenia and Croatia , the two wealthiest republics . On the other hand , Slovenia and Croatia say they could no longer tolerate the erosion of their finances by the Serbian-dominated bureaucracy . Together , Slovenia , with two million people , and Croatia , with five million , supply nearly two-thirds of Yugoslavia 's foreign exchange and about half of the country 's gross national product . They are also Yugoslavia 's gateway to Western Europe .
extractive_keyphrases: yugoslavia federal soldiers independence grab croatian independence breakaway republics independence declarations strong central control civil war
abstractive_keyphrases: slovene soldiers federal government slovene militiamen