Troops of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) and local Serbs clashed in north Kosovo last night after the peacekeepers tried to remove a barricade from a road linking Mitrovica and the Serbian border, news agencies said on Thursday.
KFOR soldiers used tear gas and gunfire to disperse thousands of Serbs who had gathered to prevent the removal of a barricade near Zvecan erected in July.
According to eyewitnesses, KFOR's Portuguese and Hungarian troops put up barbed wire and formed a cordon and used heavy equipment in an attempt to dismantle the concrete blocks, said Reuters. But the Kosovo Serbs standing watch near the roadblocks used sirens to call for help, preventing KFOR in its intent.
The KFOR troops withdrew from the barricade, which the Kosovo Serbs reinforced after it was damaged, an hour after midnight, news agencies said.
Local citizens are standing watch at about 20 barricades in north Kosovo, where Kosovo Serbs have been controlling traffic four months now, allowing KFOR troops to pass with strict control, but not members of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo because they are transporting Albanian customs and police officers.
