LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: NATO troops began collecting arms from Albanian rebels in Macedonia today. That move is part of an effort to end the ethnic fighting in Macedonia, a former part of Yugoslavia. Yesterday, a British NATO soldier was killed. Juliet Bremner of International Television News reports from Skopje.</s>JULIET BREMNER, INT'L TELEVISION NEWS (voice-over): New orders today for all British troops to wear helmets and body armor outside base. A direct response to the first death of the mission. Two soldiers were driving past this village on the outskirts of the capitol when they were attacked. A slab of stone, taken from this pile of rocks, was thrown through the window of their land recover. It hit 20-year old sapper Ian Collins, causing catastrophic head injuries.</s>MAJ. NEAL PECKHAM, NATO: Sapper Collins came to this country as part of a NATO force to help in a mission of peace, and such appalling incidents are simply unacceptable.</s>BREMNER: Today there was reluctance amongst young men in the village to talk about what had happened, but this teenager told me a group of youths had surrounded the damaged vehicle. The army confirmed there have been other attacks on the same stretch of road. Sapper Collins, from Sheffield, was treated at Skopje's main hospital but died early this morning. (on camera): The first British casualty of this mission only highlights what a volatile and unpredictable situation the British troops based here find themselves working in. (voice-over): But the death of the young paratrooper didn't prevent his friend and colleagues starting their central task, patrolling the frontline, they secured the site to the first collection point. Though ethnic Albanian fighters felt safe enough to surrender their weapons. By the end of the day, more than 300 assault rifles, as well as heavy machine guns and mortars, had been delivered. A far better haul than most on operation Essential Harvest had dared to hope for. Juliet Bremner, ITN, Macedonia.
NATO Moves to Disarm Ethnic Albanians