Around 25 soldiers from Italy and Hungary suffered broken bones and burns. According to eyewitnesses, the police, made up of ethnic Albanians, used tear gas against the protests.
(Photo: Reuters)
Leposavic, Belgrade According to NATO, around two dozen soldiers from the KFOR peacekeeping force were injured during violent protests by ethnic Serbs as a result of the local elections in Kosovo. The soldiers deployed to protect town halls were attacked from crowds with exploding incendiary devices on Monday, NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) announced.
Around 25 soldiers from Italy and Hungary suffered broken bones and burns. According to eyewitnesses, the police, made up of ethnic Albanians, used tear gas against the protests. Serbian state television reported that two Serbs were also injured.
Meanwhile, neighboring Serbia has put its armed forces on high combat readiness, Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had already ordered combat readiness on Friday, albeit initially at a lower level.
The background to the conflict between the Serb minority and the Albanian majority in Kosovo, which recently flared up again, is the local elections on April 23. The Serbs, who make up the majority of the population in the northern part of the country, boycotted the elections. As a result, Albanian mayoral candidates also won in Serb-majority communities. Ethnic Serbs gathered to protest when they took office on Monday.
Ethnic Serbs had already withdrawn from the police and other public offices last year in protest against the policies of the Albanian population group. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. However, this is not recognized by Serbia or by the Serb population in Kosovo. KFOR, sent by NATO, has been tasked with ensuring security in the country since 1999 on the basis of a UN mandate.
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