Serbs, NATO soldier injured in Northern Kosovo gunfight

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least three Kosovo Serbs and a NATO soldier were wounded in a gunfight on Friday, June 1 as peacekeepers tried to dismantle Serb roadblocks blocking traffic, Reuters reported.

NATO troops in the Kosovo Force (KFOR) fired tear gas and small arms and some protesters fired back with handguns.

The troops, in armoured personnel carriers, were confronted by hundreds of Serbs who pelted them with stones near barricades in the villages of Rudare and Dudin Krs outside the town of Zvecan in a Serb-dominated northern area of Kosovo.

The roadblocks are among the last on major roads yet to be dismantled by KFOR. They were erected as part of a long-running Serb campaign to prevent the government of Albanian-majority independent Kosovo from imposing its rule in the area.

Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is 90 percent ethnic Albanian. But Serbs opposed to independence dominate in a small swathe of the north bordering Serbia which continues to function as part of the Serbian state, resisting efforts by the Kosovo government to extend its authority.

KFOR troops from Germany and the United States received reinforcements after initial clashes and were deployed on hills overlooking Rudare. Several NATO helicopters were also flying over the area.

Dragisa Milovic, the mayor of Zvecan which is about 60 km (40 miles) from the capital Pristina, said KFOR had refused to allow Serb medical personnel to help wounded Serbs. Milovic said he had asked Serbs to withdraw to restore calm.

Health authorities in the Serb-controlled north of the city of Mitrovica said three Serbs were hospitalised while others were released after treatment for slight injuries.

Kosovo Serbs set up barricades at boundary crossings with neighbouring Serbia last year, after authorities in Pristina and the European Union’s police and judiciary mission EULEX attempted to establish their presence there.

A Kosovo policeman was killed in an ambush and several civilians and NATO troops were injured in clashes that erupted over months.