NATO yesterday said it had turned its focus to the tide of refugees being expelled from Kosovo while bad weather hampered air operations against Yugoslav forces.
Alleviating the plight of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians being driven out of Kosovo by Yugoslav police and army units was "our most urgent concern and priority", said NATO spokesman, Mr Jamie Shea.
NATO has been shocked by the sheer scale of President Milosevic's expulsion of the Albanian population of Kosovo and has accused him of using the vast numbers of refugees as a means of destabilising the region.
Mr Shea said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that 80,000 ethnic Albanians were driven out of Kosovo on Saturday alone.
"We are also facing a dire situation with about 60,000 trapped in a no-man's-land between the borders of Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Kosovo," he said. "Many of them have been without food for over 48 hours."
He added: "In the last 24 to 48 hours, NATO has been mobilising itself and mobilising its member nations to provide immediate assistance."
Some 12,000 NATO troops waiting in Macedonia under the command of Gen Michael Jackson of Britain, to implement any peace agreement, had been put to work helping the humanitarian effort. They had so far housed 3,500 refugees in tents and expected to accommodate 20,000 in total.
Mr Shea said that a number of NATO member nations had agreed to give temporary shelter to refugees. Germany had agreed to take 40,000, the United States 20,000, Turkey 20,000, Norway 6,000, Canada 5,000 and Greece 5,000.
NATO and the EU were yesterday hosting a meeting in Brussels of organisations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to co-ordinate military and civilian aspects of the aid effort.
The NATO military spokesman, Air Commodore David Wilby, said Yugoslav military forces were moving westwards to engage the Kosovo Liberation Army in the border region near Albania.
"This is the last area in which the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) will be able to mount a serious resistance," he said.
"Their recruiting is reportedly buoyant, especially among young male refugees, and they are undoubtedly starting the process of rebuilding their force."
Asked if NATO aimed to assist them, he said NATO did not take sides.
Poor weather had forced NATO aircraft to concentrate on overnight attacks on Belgrade, Air Commodore Wilby said.
Attacks had been conducted against what he described as "major army and security force facilities in the city, including the headquarters of the Yugoslav First Army".
NATO had also struck the Belgrade internal security institute and important fuel depots.
"These were all military and military-related facilities that were judged critical targets to our overall campaign effectiveness," he said.
Outside Belgrade attacks had been directed against highway bridges and another fuel dump and an ammunition plant. He apologised for knocking out the bridges and causing inconvenience to civilians.
"For this we are very sorry. But this isn't a cricket match," the British Royal Air Force officer said.
NATO warplanes continuation of strikes coincided with NATO's 50th anniversary.
Celebrations which were to have marked the day next week have been cancelled because of what one European diplomat called a "war to end the barbarity of Europe's last tyrant".
A meeting chaired by NATO and the EU took place at the alliance headquarters yesterday to co-ordinate the relief efforts of international organisations, including the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the Western European Union, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.
The current holder of the presidency of the EU, Germany, issued a statement saying "the EU and its members are considering how to speedily increase their contribution". Further measures will be decided at an EU foreign ministers meeting on Thursday.
NATO has pledged logistical, manpower and co-ordination help for the humanitarian activities.
Mr Shea said that "in the last 24 hours many NATO countries have offered to resettle refugees on a temporary basis."
The Macedonian President, Mr Kiro Gligorov, said earlier he had received assurances from the EU that it will take in 100,000 refugees. Austria and Ireland have already publicly stated they will take some of the refugees.