Albanians Slain in Revenge for NATO Strikes, Serb Says

LONDON — Ethnic Albanians were killed in revenge for NATO strikes during the Kosovo conflict, Serbia’s deputy minister for information said in a British television report to be aired Sunday.

“I don’t want to say that there were no cases of retribution during the bombing--but during the bombing--and I emphasize that,” Miodrag Popovic told the BBC.

Popovic also said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had exaggerated claims about the Balkans situation to justify its air war to halt “ethnic cleansing” of Albanians in Kosovo, a province of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

He argued that NATO targeted civilians ahead of the military and claimed that three times more Serbian civilians than soldiers were killed during the war.