Armend Nimani / AFP - Getty Images
NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo stand at attention during a KFOR change of command ceremony in Pristina, Sept. 7, 2012. German General Volker Halbauer took command of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo. NATO deployed peacekeepers in Kosovo after a 1999 air campaign that ousted Serbian forces waging a crackdown on the pro-independence ethnic Albanian majority.
Zveki / AP
German army soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo guard a bridge near the town of Zvecan, Kosovo, on June 1, 2012. NATO-led peacekeepers have confronted stone-throwing Serbs seeking to prevent the international troops from removing their roadblocks in the tense north of Kosovo.
Reuters reports — At least three Kosovo Serbs and a NATO soldier were wounded in a gunfight on Friday as peacekeepers tried to dismantle Serb roadblocks blocking traffic, a Reuters witness said. NATO troops fired tear gas and small arms and some protesters fired back with handguns.
See pictures of several incidents of violence in Kosovo last year
The troops, in armored personnel carriers, were confronted by hundreds of Serbs who pelted them with stones near barricades in the villages of Rudare and Dudin Krs outside the town of Zvecan in a Serb-dominated northern area of Kosovo. Read the full story.
Bojan Slavkovic / Reuters
A German KFOR soldier aims his gun towards Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the town of Zvecan on June 1, 2012.
Zveki / AP
Kosovo Serbs carry an injured man near the town of Zvecan on June 1, 2012.
Zveki / AP
Kosovo Serbs clash with German army soldiers serving under the auspices of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, as the NATO troops work to remove a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Two NATO soldiers were shot and wounded during clashes with Serbs on Monday after the peacekeepers fired rubber bullets and water canons and used heavy machinery to remove trucks and buses that were being used to block a main road in Kosovo's ethnically tense north. Kosovo's authorities decided to extend their authority into the areas under de-facto Serb rule, and NATO troops are trying to remove roadblocks after months of tension.
Bojan Slavkovic / Reuters
Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers from Germany and Austria fight with Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok November 28, 2011. Two NATO soldiers were wounded by gunfire on Monday in clashes with demonstrators in north Kosovo, NATO said, in the latest spasm of violence in a months-long standoff with Serbs who reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia.
Zveki / AP
Kosovo Serbs clash with German army soldiers serving under the auspices of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
From the full story:
Two German NATO soldiers were shot and wounded and eight Austrian peacekeepers hurt on Monday in the latest clashes with Serbs in the north of Kosovo who reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia.
Fighting broke out when NATO peacekeepers began removing roadblocks erected by Serbs in July after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated government tried to send border police to the mainly Serb north.
Western diplomats warn the turmoil could cost Serbia official candidate status for membership of the European Union when the bloc meets on December 9.
Related stories:
Reuters
A Kosovo Force soldier from Germany sprays tear gas towards Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok October 20, 2011. NATO troops in Kosovo fired teargas to disperse hundreds of Serbs blocking a contested border crossing with Serbia on Thursday, and used armored vehicles in a bid to remove makeshift barriers.
Marko Djurica / Reuters
Kosovo Serbs sit on the street in front of Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers from Germany in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok October 20, 2011. NATO troops in Kosovo (KFOR) fired teargas to disperse hundreds of Serbs blocking a contested border crossing with Serbia on Thursday, and used armored vehicles in a bid to remove makeshift barriers.
Hundreds of Kosovo Serbs took over a border crossing with Serbia early Thursday morning, leading to a confrontation with NATO troops who used teargas to disperse the crowds.
AP Reports:
Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs on Thursday as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.
For nearly three months, Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the country's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs. The Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of
independence from Serbia and consider the region a part of the larger Serbian nation.After Kosovo Serb leaders refused
NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved in at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.
For complete story: NATO moves to remove Kosovo Serb roadblocks
Darko Vojinovic / AP
German army soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo move to remove a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, early Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo confronted angry Serb crowds manning their roadblocks as tensions escalated Thursday in the volatile north of the country. After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.
Darko Vojinovic / AP
German army soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo clash with Kosovo Serbs on a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, early Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo confronted angry Serb crowds manning their roadblocks as tensions escalated Thursday in the volatile north of the country. After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.
Visar Kryeziu / AP
Kosovo Serbs carrying Serb national flag protest against NATO's move to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo, in the town of Gracanica on Thursday, Oct 20, 2011. Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs on Thursday as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.
Reuters
Masked Serb extremists set the Serbia-Kosovo border crossing on fire in Jarinje on July 27. Ethnic Serbs set fire to a border crossing post in northern Kosovo on Wednesday after Kosovo's government said it had regained control of that station and one other, officials said. Oliver Ivanovic, Serbia's state secretary for Kosovo, said no one was hurt, but voiced concern about further violence.
Armend Nimani / AFP - Getty Images
Members of Kosovo police carry the coffin of their late colleague Enver Bajrami during his funeral ceremony in the village of Dubovc on July 27. The policeman was shot and killed on Tuesday in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.
Armend Nimani / AFP - Getty Images
Kosovo Albanians attend a funeral ceremony for police officer Enver Zymberi on July 27.
Reuters reports:
A deadly flare-up of violence in Kosovo's Serbian-populated north has sent tensions with Belgrade soaring and prompted a stern intervention from the European Union.
Kosovo, which has a 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority, sent special police units on Monday to take control of northern border crossings and enforce a ban on imports from Serbia -- retaliation for its block on Kosovo's exports.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade does not recognize the move and the 60,000 Serbs who live in northern Kosovo still consider Belgrade their capital.
One Kosovo police officer was shot in the head and died on Tuesday in a clash with local Serbs. On Wednesday, armed Serbs attacked and burned down the Jarinje border post and fired at members of NATO's KFOR peacekeeping force. Continue reading.
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