Violence flares in Kosovo

Updated 12.20 Mon Mar 17 2008

Keywords: UN, Nato, Mitrovica, Kosovo

Nato troops have come under fire during Serb riots in the city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.

It is the worst violence in the territory since the Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia last month, and has heightened fears that Kosovo could be heading for ethnic partition.

"Disregarding everything, they (UN and KFOR) carried out this action and provoked the citizenry" -Slobodan Samardzic

The clashes began at dawn when several hundred UN special police backed by Nato peacekeepers stormed a UN court that had been seized by Serbs on Friday, and arrested dozens of people.

Hundreds of Serbs fought back with stones, grenades and firecrackers, forcing the UN police to pull back and leave the Nato peacekeeping force KFOR to face the rioters.

Witnesses said rioters attacked three UN vehicles, freeing around ten of those detained in the raid, and the police and troops responded with teargas.

Eight French KFOR soldiers were reported to have been injured with grenades, stones and molotov cocktails, but their wounds were not life-threatening.

The UN police force (UNMIK) reported three of its officers had been injured, while 13 Polish members of the force are reported to have been hurt.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic has demanded the release of three dozen Serb judges and former court officials arrested in the retaking of the court.

"Disregarding everything, they (UN and KFOR) carried out this action and provoked the citizenry," he said. "We had an agreement not to undertake any action before I go to Mitrovica," he said.

Mr Samardzic said he had met US diplomat Larry Rossin on Sunday and offered a plan "for resolving all issues between UNMIK and Serbia and in connection with Serbs in Kosovo".

KFOR is the UN-mandated Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo, where about 120,000 Serbs remain among 2 million ethnic Albanians.

The raid to retake the court coincided with the March 17 anniversary of Kosovo Albanian riots against Serbs in 2004, in which 19 people were killed and hundreds of homes and churches burned in two days of chaos.

Kosovo's Serbs, almost half of whom live in the north, reject Kosovo's Western-backed declaration of independence.