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Violence flares in tense northern Kosovo
Apr 27, 2009, 10:47 GMT
Pristina - Violence flared Monday in the tense northern Kosovo, with shots fired in an ongoing confrontation of minority Serbs and European Union police.
'Shots were heard ... we have no reports of injuries,' said Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti. Local media, however, said at least one Serb was wounded by gunfire.
Police of the EU law-enforcing mission in Kosovo, EULEX, fired tear gas on Saturday at the same site, the Brdjani neighbourhood of the divided hotspot town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Kosovo's minority Serb population dominates the northern section. They started protests a week ago at Brdjane trying 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 Serb protests.
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