At least 34 soldiers of NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo were injured during clashes with protesters in the northern part of the country Monday, according to the Italian defense ministry
Tensions have risen in the past week after ethnically Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo, a majority Kosovo Serb area, following April elections that Kosovo Serbs had boycotted.
’s Kosovo Force said the recent developments prompted them to increase their presence in northern Kosovo on Monday morning, which they later said turned violent. The Italian defense ministry said 14 of its KFOR peacekeeping soldiers were injured when protesters threw “Molotov cocktails, with nails, firecrackers and stones inside.” Hungarian and Moldovan soldiers were also among the injured peacekeeping troops, according to the Italian defense ministry.
countries. He said “many” protesters were injured in the clashes and accused KFOR of using flash grenades when the “peaceful” protesters had “decided to disperse and continue the protest tomorrow morning.” Kosovo, which is mainly ethnically Albanian, won independence from Serbia in 2008. But Serbia still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory as do the Serbs living in northern Kosovo.
has troops stationed in Kosovo to maintain peace, with tensions often flaring between Serbia and Kosovo. Rising violence The -led multi-national contingents had been deployed to four municipalities in the region to contain “violent demonstrations” as “newly elected mayors in recent days tried to take office,” KFOR said in a statement. On Friday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić put the armed forces on the highest level of combat readiness. That decision followed Kosovo police clashing with protesters who tried to block a newly elected ethnic Albanian mayor from entering their office.
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Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have flared anew this weekend after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings. There have been violent clashes between Kosovo’s police and local Serbs that have left several people injured on both sides. Serbia raised the combat readiness of its troops stationed near the border and warned that it won’t stand by if Serbs in Kosovo are attacked again. The situation has again fueled fears of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives.
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