KOSOVO: After a tense standoff with local Serbs international troops in Kosovo fail to remove months-old roadblocks at two contested border crossings between the country's volatile north and Serbia

Record ID: 830644

  • Title: KOSOVO: After a tense standoff with local Serbs international troops in Kosovo fail to remove months-old roadblocks at two contested border crossings between the country's volatile north and Serbia
  • Date: 23rd October 2011
  • Summary: JAGNJENICA, KOSOVO (OCTOBER 22, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KFOR SOLDIERS CLIMBING TRUCK THAT HAS BEEN SET UP AS ROAD BARRICADE SERBS SHOUTING: "KOSOVO IS THE HEART OF SERBIA" KFOR SOLDIER HOLDING TEAR GAS CANISTERS SERBS SHOUTING: "KOSOVO IS IN THE HEART OF SERBIA" KFOR SOLDIERS AT BARRICADE KFOR SOLDIER LOADER PUSHING A TRUCK SERBS STANDING KFOR SOLDIERS STANDING KFOR SOLDIER HOLDING A WEAPON VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS AT BARRICADE BARRICADE / KFOR WARNING: "Please, go home!"
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kosovo, Kosovo
  • Country: Kosovo
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2TTJE8SO73C5T0IKTEDRYS7H9
  • Story Text: After a tense standoff with local Serbs, NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) failed early on Saturday (October 22) to remove months-old roadblocks to two contested border crossing between country's volatile north and Serbia.
    At a roadblock in the village of Jagnjenica, about 80 kilometres (40 miles) north of capital Pristina, hundreds of Serbs had prevented a KFOR overnight raid by sitting on the road in front of the armoured personnel carriers and an infantry cordon.
    Serbs parked heavy trucks across the road leading to the nearby Brnjak crossing, reinforcing a barricade there. KFOR attempted to use a bulldozer to remove the roadblock but without success. There were no further incidents.
    Earlier this week, KFOR used tear gas to disperse Serbs from a barricade along a network of roads leading to the Brnjak border post. Eight peacekeepers and about two dozen civilians received slight injuries in the scuffles.
    Tensions have mounted in the north as Kosovo's government tries to stamp its authority over this largely lawless area, a home to 60,000 ethnic Serbs -- many of whom still pledge allegiance to neighbouring Serbia.
    Kosovo, with its majority ethnic-Albanian population, is Serbia's former southern province. It declared independence in 2008 after a 1998-99 war and years under United Nations rule. The country is still patrolled by KFOR and European Union's law and justice mission
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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