Serbs in Kosovo Attack U.S. Troops, Injuring 1
Stone-throwing Serbs attacked U.S. troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo, injuring one soldier, KFOR said Thursday.
The attacks took place late Wednesday night in Vrbovac, near the southern town of Vitina.
“Two Serb crowds numbering between 200 and 300 people attacked KFOR U.S. peacekeepers, throwing stones and hurling insults and threats,” KFOR, or Kosovo Force, said in a statement. “One soldier was injured and required stitches.”
In one of two incidents, a squad of U.S. military police was stoned as the unit responded to an explosion that destroyed an abandoned house, KFOR said. In the other, troops guarding a Serbian Orthodox church were surrounded and attacked.
KFOR said reinforcements moved into the area to defuse the situation and that the crowds dispersed shortly after midnight local time.
“My peacekeepers will continue to maintain a strong presence in Vrbovac to keep order and to protect and reassure the majority of the families who desire a normal, peaceful life,” said the KFOR commander, Lt. Gen. Juan Ortuno of Spain.
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