NATO secures riot scene in Kosovo

NATO troops in Kosovo patrolled the Serbian north of this volatile city alone Tuesday after police withdrew in the wake of deadly riots by Serbs opposed to Kosovo’s independence.

Kosovo Serb police followed United Nations officers in suspending normal duties in northern Mitrovica, under orders from the peacekeeping force led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.N. mission still in charge of the newly independent state.

French, Belgian and Spanish troops in armored personnel carriers secured the area and 150 U.S. troops were deployed on the southern, Albanian side of Mitrovica.

The town was still tense a day after being rocked by the worst violence since Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17 with Western backing.

Serbia, with support from Russia, has rejected the secession, and Western officials alleged that it was involved in the unrest in the Serb-dominated strip of northern Kosovo.

On Monday, Serbian riots included automatic weapons fire and hand-grenade explosions. One Ukrainian police officer serving with the U.N. was killed and dozens of U.N. police and NATO soldiers were injured. The violence was sparked by a U.N. police operation to retake a U.N. court seized three days earlier by Serbs. U.N. officials said Serbian police personnel were involved.

“Of the 40 or so people occupying the building, some were identified as Serbian Ministry of Interior officers,” said U.S. diplomat Larry Rossin, the deputy head of the U.N. administration in Kosovo.

About 120,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo among 2 million ethnic Albanians. Almost half live in the north, adjacent to Serbia.