NATO PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO WILL DEAL FIRMLY WITH ANY VIOLENCE IN TERRITORY

NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo will deal firmly with any violence in the territory in line with the UN mandate for the operation, an alliance spokesman said on Monday, B92 radio reported. "NATO condemns in the strongest form the violence we have seen in northern Kosovo today," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said by telephone after alliance troops came under fire during Serb riots in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica. "(The NATO-led force) KFOR will respond firmly to any acts of violence, as is its mandate from the United Nations," he said of incidents that were the worst violence in the territory since the Albanian majority declared independence last month. Serbs opposed to Kosovo’s independence battled UN and NATO forces Monday in the divided town of Mitrovica, stoking fears of a new regional conflict in the Balkans. The clashes forced lightly armed United Nations police to withdraw from the town in northern Kosovo. With their helicopters circling overhead, NATO troops riding in armored personnel carriers and firing tear gas moved in under a hail of stones and Molotov cocktails. NATO and UN personnel were also shot at, officials said, and in some instances returned fire. Later, Serbs attacked a U.N. convoy that was taking away detainees, enabling several to escape, police said. North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops were occupying a sliver of northern Mitrovica late Monday, amid a tableau of burned UN vehicles and debris. Serb leaders accused the international troops of using excessive force. Dozens of people were hurt in Monday’s incidents, the worst violence in Kosovo since the ethnic Albanian-dominated province announced its secession from Serbia on Feb. 17. On Feb. 21, Serb rioters in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, torched the U.S. Embassy in similar protests that left one demonstrator dead and nearly 100 people injured. Washington and several European countries have recognized the new state of Kosovo.

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