Pristina - Violence flared Monday in tense northern Kosovo,
with shots fired and grenades thrown in an ongoing confrontation
between minority ethnic Serbs and European Union police.
In the past few hours, several incidents occurred in hotspot town
of Kosovska Mitrovica.
One French peacekeeper was injured Monday afternoon in Mitrovica
when a group of Serbs tried to enter an ethnic Albanian area of the
city.
'Some 150 people protested and one French soldier was hit by a
stone,' sources among the international force KFOR told the German
Press Agency dpa.
KFOR then blocked the main bridge that divides the city and
dispersed the crowd demonstrating against rebuilding of houses by
ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica's Brdjani neighborhood.
Later in the day, in two separate attacks, two hand grenades were
thrown at international peacekeepers but no one was injured.
'We had a couple of incidents today in Mitrovica. One at Brdjani,
one at the bridge and afterwards two hand grenade attacks - one
against our police officers and another against KFOR,' Christophe
Lamfalussy, spokesman for the EU law-enforcing mission in Kosovo,
EULEX.
On Monday morning in the Brdjani neighborhood in Mitrovica shots
were heard and local media reported that at least one Serb was
wounded by gunfire. EULEX police fired tear gas on Saturday at the
same site.
Kfor took control of Brdjani on Monday, entering the area with
tanks and heavy machinery.
Kosovo's minority Serb population, which dominates the territory's
northern section, started protests a week ago at Brdjane in order to
prevent the rebuilding of houses belonging to ethnic Albanians ousted
during the 1999 war.
Ethnic Albanians fled the area north of Mitrovica, which remains
under the strong influence of Belgrade.
Kosovo Albanian leaders in Pristina declared independence from
Serbia in February 2008, nine years after NATO drove Serbian security
forces from the province to end bloodshed.
EULEX deployed late last year, after the United States and most EU
nations recognized the new country despite vehement opposition from
Serbia, which claims Kosovo as its own land.
The potential for violence remains high particularly in the north,
the only sizeable Serb stronghold remaining in Kosovo. Last year, a
Ukrainian policeman was killed in violent protests by ethnic Serbs.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story