Violence continues in tense northern Kosovo (Roundup)

Apr 27, 2009, 16:49 GMT

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.