Eulex/Kfor fire shock bombs, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse Serbs

Eulex police and Kfor troops fired shock bombs, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse Serbs who are protesting against the reconstruction of Albanian houses in the neighbourhood of Brdjani in the Serb-populated northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.

(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, April 27, 2009

Eulex and Kfor intervened twice on Monday, first late in the morning, then several hours later.

Serbs have been protesting against the reconstruction of the Albanian houses as they say that the Serb community had not been consulted on the issue.

They are also asking for a return of Serbs in the southern Albanian-populated part of Kosovska Mitrovica, from which thousands of them had been expelled.

„We are strongly against the reconstruction of these houses and we will not be deterred by their might", Sinisa Lazic, a Serb from Brdjani, said.

Five Serbs were injured in late 2008 after a clash with Kosovo Albanian returnees.      

The situation in Brdjani remained very tense on Monday.

International peacekeeping force KFOR troops are deployed on the surrounding hills to monitor the situation, and helicopters of the armed forces stationed in Kosovo occasionally fly over the area.