YUGOSLAVIA: TWO FRENCH PEACEKEEPERS HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY WOUNDED BU SNIPER FIRE IN KOSOVO TOWN OF MITROVICA

Record ID: 350196

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: TWO FRENCH PEACEKEEPERS HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY WOUNDED BU SNIPER FIRE IN KOSOVO TOWN OF MITROVICA
  • Date: 13th February 2000
  • Summary: MITROVICA, KOSOVO; YUGOSLAVIA (FEBRUARY 13, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE: PEOPLE GATHERING IN ALBANIAN ENCLAVE OF SERB SIDE OF BRIDGE ON NORTHERN SIDE OF TOWN 0.21 2. LV: SMALL EXPLOSION ON TOP OF HOUSE IN ALBANIAN NEIGHBOURHOOD ON SERB SIDE OF MITROVICA/WIDE OF BUILDINGS/ VIEW OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE SERB SNIPER POSITION (3 SHOTS) 1.04 3. LV: AUDIO
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1Q1WK84D77QPS19NPCA1WSA0D
  • Story Text: Two French peacekeepers have been slightly wounded by
    sniper fire in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica after shooting
    erupted between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

    Machine gun and small arms fire punctuated by
    explosions broke out at 11 a.m.(1000 GMT) on Sunday (February
    13) near the bank of the river that divides Mitrovica into
    Serb and Albanian sectors.British troops guard the main
    bridge over the river.

    A Reuters correspondent saw French members of the NATO-led
    KFOR peacekeeping force on foot and in armoured personnel
    carriers taking combat positions on the north side of
    Mitrovica, where Serbs predominate.

    French soldiers crouched behind protective barriers,
    pointing weapons in the general direction of the bridge
    leading to the Albanian-controlled south side of town.

    Within an hour, a KFOR spokesman in the Kosovo provincial
    capital Pristina, 50 km (30 miles) to the south, said two
    French soldiers had been hit by sniper fire in Mitrovica, but
    were not believed to be seriously hurt.

    French officers said at least five snipers had been
    detected in a tower block on the north side of the Ibar River,
    just east of the main bridge.

    "We have summoned a group of elite sharpshooters to the
    scene to neutralise the snipers," said a French officer who
    asked not to be identified.

    The shooting sounded like exchanges of fire - both small
    arms and heavy-calibre.But it was difficult to pinpoint the
    origin - including whether any was coming from the south side
    of town - or circumstances in the early confusion.

    But, citing a possible cause, French soldiers said there
    had been a grenade attack on an ethnic Albanian house on the
    north side of town at 8 a.m.(0700 GMT).Seven Albanians were
    injured and taken to KFOR's Moroccan hospital in the area.

    The incident occurred in a district called "Little
    Bosnia", one of the few ethnic Albanian enclaves left in north
    Mitrovica, where residents include some ethnic Slav Moslems,
    or "Bosniacs".

    British peacekeepers replaced French troops on the bridge
    last week after repeated clashes between the French and ethnic
    Albanian militants accusing the French of enforcing a
    partition of Mitrovica to the benefit of Serbs.

    KFOR and U.N.civil administrators took de facto control
    of Kosovo last June after NATO air strikes forced Yugoslav
    Serb security forces to halt a mass purge of the rebellious
    majority Albanian population and withdraw from the province.

    Most of Kosovo's Serb minority have since fled elsewhere
    in Yugoslavia to escape violent vengeance by returning
    Albanian refugees.But Serbs have stayed put in north
    Mitrovica, with its proximity to Kosovo's boundary with the
    rest of Serbia.

    French troops took up position on the Ibar bridge soon
    after arriving to keep Albanians and Serbs apart.

    But ethnic Albanians accused the French of preventing them
    from returning to reclaim property in the north from which
    they were driven by armed Serbs during the 1998-99 conflict.

    The French were replaced by the British on the bridge last
    week after clashes involving them, Albanians and Serbs left
    eight Albanians dead and more than 20 people wounded, mostly
    Serbs.KFOR imposed a night curfew and reinforced the French
    in Mitrovica with troops from Britain, Germany and other
    countries.

    More than 900 Albanians have fled the north side of
    Mitrovica since the violence erupted, according to figures
    from the office of the U.N.High Commissioner for Refugees.

    The exodus has raised fears among Albanians that Serbs are
    plotting to partition Kosovo by ethnically cleansing north
    Mitrovica, creating a Serb-dominated zone stretching from
    there to the Serbian provincial boundary.

    This would ensure mineral-rich northern Kosovo remained in
    Serbia even if the rest of the territory gained the
    independence sought by the ethnic Albanian majority, the
    theory goes.


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