Mitrovica - Sixteen French Kfor soldiers, 20 Serbs and five Albanians were injured yesterday when Serbs and Albanians fought in the divided Kosovan town of Mitrovica. The violence, accompanied by shooting and grenade blasts, continued into the afternoon. It was one of the most serious outbreaks of violence in the town, which saw major clashes last month, where peacekeepers struggle daily to prevent fighting between Albanians and Serbs.
Meanwhile, an advance team from the five-nation Euro corps, which will take command of NATO's Kfor peacekeeping force in Kosovo, arrived yesterday in the capital, Pristina. Eurocorps is a fledgling organisation composed of German, French, Spanish, Belgian and Luxembourg troops, and its deployment in the command structure of Kfor is seen as a major boost to its profile and a test of its capabilities.