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British base in Gorazde attacked

SARAJEVO: Bosnian government troops launched a fierce infantry attack on a British peacekeeping base in the eastern enclave of Gorazde late on Thursday but there were no British casualties, the U.N. said on Friday.

The attack was repulsed and two Bosnian army soldiers were killed.

"The British U.N. camp in Gorazde was attacked between 2300 and 2315 hours last night and two intruders wearing Bosnian army uniforms were killed," U.N. spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Vernon said in Sarajevo.

"There was a heavy exchange of fire... There were no British casualties."

Gorazde is a U.N.-designated "safe area" east of Sarajevo in which about 65,000 Moslems are besieged by separatist Serb forces.

U.N. officials have been trying to withdraw all peacekeepers from the enclave except for a small contingent of unarmed military observers and a few forward air controllers who could call in NATO air strikes in the case of a Serb attack. About 180 British peacekeepers remain in the pocket.-Reuter