HEAVY FIGHTING IN YUGOSLAVIA

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 20, 19 October 1942, Page 5

HEAVY FIGHTING IN YUGOSLAVIA

Aggressive Patriots (Received October 18, 7 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 16.

The Istanbul correspondent of “The Times” reports that General Mihailovitch’s forces, aided by Moslem guerrillas, have inflicted heavy losses, including 4000 killed, against a German motorized division whose headquarters are at Sarajevo, and against Croat, Ustashi forces garrisoning five towns in south-western Bosnia during five weeks of fierce fighting, according to an eye-witness who has arrived from Sarajevo. In the second week of September Chetniks attacked Bugojno, 40 miles north-west of Sarajevo, wiping out the Ustashi’garrison of 500 troops. The fighting- spread to Livnoduvno and reached a climax at Kupres, when a German division speeding from Sarajevo clashed in a three days battle in the Kupres Dass with 5500 Chetniks. The Germans forced an entry into the town of Kupres, using armoured cars, dive-bombing and heavy staling- , Chetniks clashed in- hand-to-hand fighting at Livnoduvno with Germans attacking General Mihailovitch’s positions on a sheer mountainside, where dive-bombing was impossible. Heavy losses were sustained on both sides, but the Germans were beaten off after 12 hours. The Chetniks last week still held Livnoduvno, the approaches to Bogojno, and the heights above Kupres, according to the eye-witness, who sawtruckloads of German dead and wounded transported toward Sarajevo and watched the Germans hauling in badlybattered transport, vehicles and armoured cars to the I‘epair shops.