Clashes in Kosovska Mitrovica: One dead, over 130 injured

Doctors in Kragujevac, central Serbia, are fighting for the life of one Serb, hit by a sniper during the several-hours long clashes which started when Unmik police raided the municipal court of northern Kosovska Mitrovica, occupied for four days by former Serbs workers requesting to get back their jobs.

During the raid, 53 Serbs were arrested. As Unmik tried to transfer them to detention centers outside the town, Serb demonstrators set alight some UMNIK vehicles and freed 21 of the people who were arrested.

The remaining 32 people -- 20 men and 12 women -- were transferred to a jail in Pristina and then released later in the afternoon.

According to information from the hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica, around 70 Serbs were injured, of which 15 were held for treatment due to bullet wounds. Two seriously injured people were transferred to Kragujevac and Belgrade.

Serbian President Boris Tadic talked to senior NATO and EU officials by phone and appealed for peace to be restored in Kosovska Mitrovica.

He urged UNMIK police and KFOR to refrain from using force against Serbs.

"Such a severe response, with excessive use of force, by members of UNMIK and KFOR, which are in charge of the safety of all citizens on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, especially today, on March 17, the date when the Serb people endured one of their worst pogroms, could cause a further escalation of conflict to the entire territory of the province," Tadic warned in an announcement from his press service.

At the same time, Tadic asked Kosovo Serbs to refrain from gestures that could provoke international troops to use force and called on the leaders of Kosovo Serbs to do everything in their power to restore calm.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica also denounced the use of force against Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija, who, he said, are opposed to the establishing of a "false state on Serbian territory".

"The part of the international community that is implementing a policy of force against Serbia has decided to use physical force against Serbs in the north of the province, on March 17 of all days. The fundamental goal of the UN mission is to prevent any violence in Kosovo, not to perpetrate acts of violence and intimidation against Serbs, which is why we protest in the severest possible terms," he said.

A press release from the prime minister's office said Serbia had begun consultations with Russia on a joint response to immediately end any form of violence against Serbs.

In Brussels, NATO strongly condemned the violence in northern Kosovo and said KFOR will respond firmly to any use of force, executing its mandate based on the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

He underlined that it was reprehensible that the perpetrators of the riots in Kosovska Mitrovica used Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and firearms, violating the law and Resolution 1244.

EU High Representative Javier Solana on March 17 expressed deep concern over the violence in Mitrovica and stressed that it was necessary for everyone to act calmly, the office of the high representative in Brussels said.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu condemned the violence and blamed it on the Kosovo Serbs.

"The acts of violence against the UNMIK police and members of KFOR are unacceptable to the institutions and people of Kosovo. The brutal assault of demonstrators against international forces publicly proves that the usurpers of the District Court in Kosovska Mitrovica are against lawfulness, peace and stability in Kosovo," Sejdiu's statement read.

In New York, Russia harshly criticized the Unmik intervention launched against Serb demonstrators, questioning the "wisdom" behind such a move shortly after Pristina's decision to unilaterally secede from Serbia.

"We have serious questions about the wisdom of arranging this military operation in the morning and storming the court house in the wee hours," Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters in New York.

The situation in Kosovska Mitrovica calmed down on Monday afternoon and continued to be calm but tense on Tuesday.

Download PDF document