Bujanovac, February 26 (Tanjug) - Member of the Yugoslav Coordinating team Milovan Coguric said today that in ethnic Albanian extremists operations in southern Serbia since July 15 1999, when the Ground Safety Zone was set up, up to February 17 2001, nine civilians and 14 Serb policemen were killed, 40 policemen were wounded and 21 civilians abducted.

In the period, ethnic Albanian extremists carried out 620 armed operations dealing with terrorism, extremism and victims, secretary of the Yugoslav Defence Ministry underscored at the press conference in Bujanovac.

He precised that in the Zone there were 512 attacks on Serbian police, 18 on the Yugoslav Army members and 90 on the civilians. At the same time, there were 491 attacks, 45 armed provocations and 84 raids outside the Zone, aiming at weakening our security forces and endangering civilians.

Coguric reminded that ethnic Albanian extremists had also attacked two U.N. members from Ireland and Russia, as well as journalists from Italy.

The extremists used 9 hand grenades, 54 anti-tank mines, 591 mortar shells, 70 rockets from shoulder-held launchers as well as 560 rounds from the automatic weapons, he specified, adding that proximately 12,000 shells from the automatic weapons were fired.

Ethnic Albanian extremists fired 219 rounds from sniper guns, 54 flares, 62 grenades and 7 shells from recoilless canon.

Coguric underscored that among the killed and abducted there were also ethnic Albanian civilians, showing that not all ethnic Albanians support extremism.

Milovan Coguric pointed today to the media manipulations, practiced by ethnic Albanian extremists in Albanian-language media. Manipulation also includes a fact that the extremists do not practice terrorism and violence, since the data of their crimes clearly shows what they do and why.

Cog uric stressed that in the Albanian press there were lies and incorrect information.

He said that in "Kosovo life" and "Kosovo press" ethnic Albanians had been constantly referred to as a nation living in the territory of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, emphasizing that not all ethnic Albanians supported this variant of extremism.