At least six Kosovan Serbs and four Nato troops were injured in clashes at a disputed border crossing today, Nato officials and local authorities said.
Eyewitnesses said troops from the Nato-led peacekeeping mission Kosovo Force (Kfor) fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd rallying against the removal of a Serb-held barricade on a small road about 150m from the Jarinje border post linking Kosovo with Serbia.
Nato spokesman Kai Gudenoge said four peacekeepers were injured after improvised bombs were thrown at their position near Jarinje. "Four solders were injured in explosions of pipe bombs. Three have minor injuries, while the fourth, who has serious injuries, will be evacuated," Mr Gudenoge said.
Nato said its forces had responded with rubber bullets after Kosovo Serbs pelted them with stones and fired at the border checkpoint 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pristina.
"All the wounded were transferred to the hospital," said Branko Ninic, the mayor of the nearby town of Leposavic. "We are urging people to remain calm. This situation is very dangerous." A Nato spokesman in Pristina said troops fired rubber bullets in self defence.
Milan Jakovljevic, the head of the hospital in the Serb, northern part of Mitrovica, a tense city divided into Albanian and Serb districts, said the six wounded men had gunshot wounds and not injuries caused by rubber bullets.
In northern Mitrovica, angry Serbs damaged two police vehicles. Nato and police brought reinforcements to the southern, Albanian part of the city, an eyewitness said. Serbia, which opposes Kosovo's independence, has repeatedly warned that taking over the contested crossings could lead to more clashes, but appealed for calm and more talks.
The clashes came as negotiators from Serbia and Kosovo were to meet in Brussels under EU auspices to try to mend daily ties such as flow of people and goods, property rights and personal documents.
Goran Bogdanovic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said Kfor was to blame for the violence and called for calm and further talks. "It is absolutely unacceptable to shoot at unarmed people. We are now trying to rally all relevant international bodies and restore dialogue as the use of force ... by Pristina, Kfor and Eulex (the EU police mission) is absolutely out of the question," Mr Bogdanovic said in a statement.
Earlier today, Kfor troops used bulldozers to remove the roadblock near the Jarinje border post and briefly detained five local Serbs.
Reuters