KFOR fires at Serbs, seven injured

[eizo]

[Merged from the Academy -DBH]

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics...7&nav_id=76572

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Kosovska Mitrovica Health Center Director Milan Jakovljević says seven persons who were injured at the Jarinje checkpoint earlier today have been hospitalized.

According to him, six persons sustained serious injuries from live rounds and one person has been taken to the ophthalmology ward due to eye problems caused by tear gas.

“Nobody is in a life-threatening condition so far,” Jakovljević stressed.

KFOR said, however, that the troops had only used rubber bullets when they fired at the protesters at the Jarinje checkpoint.

The KFOR headquarters stated it had received no information about casualties and supposed use of live bullets.

For the last few months there has been a complete media blockade, the moment Albanian special forces under command of Hasim Taci tryed to take over north parth of Kosovo till this day. At this point is quite tense, US forces and German KFOR are taking down baricades put up by Serbs.
From what i'v seen, both side are not telling the truth, unlike the US forces who started removing the baricads took some care with Serbian flags on top of them, the germans just cut them and threw them on the ground this provoked allready angry crowd who doesn;'t want Albanian police and customs on the border with Serbia, and they started throwing stones at the German kfor who was for some reason allready firing tear gas at and angry crowd few hours earlier. At this point i think atleast two german soldiers were hit but one fell to the gorund and then somebody started shooting, at first live and than rubber bullets, they also shot at the paramedics who were helping the people and you could see the holes on the sides of their cars. Don't know what these idiots think they are doing but they really are pushing Serbia to the limit. Also it seems Serbian army started sending out army calls to some parts of it's forces and army groups near Kosovo are regrouping. Serbian defence ministry claims that this is not related to the problems on Kosovo atleast thus far. The last thing i noticed is that crowds are getting bigger and that they are chanting ww2 anti-nazi slogans at the german Kfor. I also noticed on the way to back to Serbia that a lot of people are moving their familys into Serbia and only men comming back, this is not good.

[Cavalier]

I heard something about an IED detonating near the KFOR troops, therefore them firing.

http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/a...im-Kosovo.html

I'm certain some german member would be kind enough to translate

[eizo]

I haven't seen any exploasions of that type, and if they did happen due to rather small zone of conflict there would be a lot of hurt both Kfor and Serb demontrators, so i doubt that any IED were used, but i can't claim that 100%. What might have been called as IED might be the shockbombs that German KFor started hurling at the mass and at one point acutlly hit a few US troops at Brnjak, which kinda brought a lot of confusion as i think US thought they were under fire, but nothing happened, german Kfor stoped and started firing tear gas and US troops moved a bit to the left of the german line of sight.


It seems that some people are mentioning some explosion on a road to baricades and that 4 kfor soldiers are wounded at the moment EULEKS claims no such thing happends while KFOR claims that 4 soldiers were hurt and one is in critical condition and has been evacuated to Kfor base.
There are claims by Kfor that they were wonded but its still not known why they opend fire. As the explosion seems to bee a revenge attack. It's still not clear how the soldiers got hurt.
From what i heard Serb side claims that they started throwing shock bombs and that after few minutes the was some smoke on their end of the line and that Kfro troops were lying down, i am still not sure how could they possibly hurt themselfs seems a bit far fetched.

Doctors have showed to the press in Kosovska Mitrovica pictures of wounds made by live ammo and now it seems and Kfor HQ seas it did use live ammo.

For the admins, please delete the thread there is allready one in the pit

[il padrino]

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics...7&nav_id=76572

Source: B92, Beta, Tanjug KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Kosovska Mitrovica Health Center Director Milan Jakovljević says seven persons who were injured at the Jarinje checkpoint earlier today have been hospitalized.

KFOR troops at the Jarinje checkpoint (Tanjug)

According to him, six persons sustained serious injuries from live rounds and one person has been taken to the ophthalmology ward due to eye problems caused by tear gas.
“Nobody is in a life-threatening condition so far,” Jakovljević stressed.

KFOR said, however, that the troops had only used rubber bullets when they fired at the protesters at the Jarinje checkpoint.

The KFOR headquarters stated it had received no information about casualties and supposed use of live bullets.

Jakovljević added that shots had also been fired at the ambulance but that the medical team that had been giving medical attention to the injured Serbs had not been injured.

KFOR Deputy Spokesman Kai Gudenoge stated Tuesday that KFOR soldiers were forced to fire rubber bullets in self-defense at the Serbs gathered on the road to the Jarinje administrative crossing in northern Kosovo.

“The Serbs were stoning the German soldiers, one of whom was hit, so the soldiers were forced to fire rubber bullets in self-defense,” he told AFP.

Gudenoge stressed that the situation was now absolutely peaceful, noting, however, that this could change at any moment.

KFOR troops threw flash bombs and tear gas and fired rubber bullets at local Serbs who gathered at the Jarinje checkpoint around 13:00 CET.

U.S. KFOR troops used tear gas early on Tuesday to disperse Serbs and remove a barricade from an alternative road that leads from Jarinje to central Serbia.

Local Serbs, who spent the night at the barricades, told Beta news agency earlier on Tuesday that the troops had been brutal, that they had used tear gas and that they tied up young men who had been present.

One of them received medical attention at the Raška hospital. Four Serbs have been arrested and later released. The U.S. troops threaten to shoot anyone who comes close to the barbed wire at the Jarinje administrative checkpoint.

KFOR troops removed the barricades made of dirt and gravel.

They have also announced that starting from Tuesday morning they will arrest anyone who uses the alternative road around Jarinje. German troops arrested and soon after released two people at the alternative road around 7:00 CET on Tuesday.

An incident broke out around 10:30 CET when several citizens threw rocks at KFOR troops who responded by using tear gas. The clash quickly ended when Leposavić Mayor Branko Ninić called on the citizens to remain calm and to peacefully fight for their legitimate requests.

The night was peaceful at the other barricades in northern Kosovo.

KFOR removed a sand barricade from Jarinje last night, but Serbs who came to the administrative checkpoint in great numbers managed to set up a new barricade on the main road leading to Rudnica and kept watch at an alternative road that connects this part of Kosovo with central Serbia.

Ambulance damaged by KFOR bullets


Outrageous incident.Kosovo Serbs don't have only Albanians against them,but also the international community and KFOR that was supposed to protect them...If i recall well,"firing on peaceful protests" triggered an international bombing campaign against the regime in Libya,while this incident will probably soon be forgotten.After all,Serbs are the baby eaters in Kosovo,they can't possibly be victims.

[Manuel I Komnenos]

Disgusting. I'm shocked. This should be investigated immediately.

[Erebus Pasha]

Peaceful protests? According to the NATO spokesman Kai Gudenoge, pipe bombs were thrown at Kfor troops, injuring four. NATO also reported their troops being pelted with stones and their checkpoint being fired upon.

At least six Kosovan Serbs and four Nato troops were injured in clashes at a disputed border crossing today, Nato officials and local authorities said.

Eyewitnesses said troops from the Nato-led peacekeeping mission Kosovo Force (Kfor) fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd rallying against the removal of a Serb-held barricade on a small road about 150m from the Jarinje border post linking Kosovo with Serbia.

Nato spokesman Kai Gudenoge said four peacekeepers were injured after improvised bombs were thrown at their position near Jarinje. "Four solders were injured in explosions of pipe bombs. Three have minor injuries, while the fourth, who has serious injuries, will be evacuated," Mr Gudenoge said.

Nato said its forces had responded with rubber bullets after Kosovo Serbs pelted them with stones and fired at the border checkpoint 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pristina.

"All the wounded were transferred to the hospital," said Branko Ninic, the mayor of the nearby town of Leposavic. "We are urging people to remain calm. This situation is very dangerous." A Nato spokesman in Pristina said troops fired rubber bullets in self defence.

Milan Jakovljevic, the head of the hospital in the Serb, northern part of Mitrovica, a tense city divided into Albanian and Serb districts, said the six wounded men had gunshot wounds and not injuries caused by rubber bullets.

In northern Mitrovica, angry Serbs damaged two police vehicles. Nato and police brought reinforcements to the southern, Albanian part of the city, an eyewitness said. Serbia, which opposes Kosovo's independence, has repeatedly warned that taking over the contested crossings could lead to more clashes, but appealed for calm and more talks.

The clashes came as negotiators from Serbia and Kosovo were to meet in Brussels under EU auspices to try to mend daily ties such as flow of people and goods, property rights and personal documents.

Goran Bogdanovic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said Kfor was to blame for the violence and called for calm and further talks. "It is absolutely unacceptable to shoot at unarmed people. We are now trying to rally all relevant international bodies and restore dialogue as the use of force ... by Pristina, Kfor and Eulex (the EU police mission) is absolutely out of the question," Mr Bogdanovic said in a statement.

Earlier today, Kfor troops used bulldozers to remove the roadblock near the Jarinje border post and briefly detained five local Serbs.

Reuters

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking55.html

And this: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setime.../27/feature-04

[Stevcho the Serb]

Ah Padrino, this is just Serbian version of the incident. I am sure that soon people will folow with BBC/CNN version where barehanded Serbs on the baricades somehow assaulted KFOR, and we will have someone to blame (the Serbs ofcourse, cause its their fault).

Edit: There. If they want to remove you from your protest spot, and you throw stones, you're in deep .

[The Despondent Mind]

"firing on peaceful protests"

Maybe they weren't peaceful enough

According to the NATO spokesman Kai Gudenoge

According to A NATO GUY .

pipe bombs were thrown at Kfor troops, injuring four. NATO also reported their troops being pelted with stones and their checkpoint being fired upon.

Oh dear reason enough to slaughter people in a emergency car .

[Erebus Pasha]

Yes this wholescale slaughter of Serbs amounted to six injured.

[JJDXB]

Yes this wholescale slaughter of Serbs amounted to six injured.

With rubber bullets. Shame on you NATO for using rubber bullets.

[The Despondent Mind]

With rubber bullets. Shame on you NATO for using rubber bullets.

Did you ever got hit by a rubber bullet after getting hit by enough rubber bullets to end up in emergency ??
I would call the sadistic ( AND AWESOME )

[JJDXB]

Did you ever got hit by a rubber bullet after getting hit by enough rubber bullets to end up in emergency ??
I would call the sadistic ( AND AWESOME )

They still didn't use live ammo. If they did, I'd be angry at NATO too.

But they didn't, and they fired in self defence. I would too if pipe bombs were being tossed at me.

[DobroVece]

Source: B92, Beta, Tanjug KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Kosovska Mitrovica Health Center Director Milan Jakovljević says seven persons who were injured at the Jarinje checkpoint earlier today have been hospitalized. According to him, six persons sustained serious injuries from live rounds and one person has been taken to the ophthalmology ward due to eye problems caused by tear gas.
“Nobody is in a life-threatening condition so far,” Jakovljević stressed.

Care to read trough?

Edit: I also fail to see how is a clash when someone tries to brake your protest a reason to fire. Maybe we should use this technique on every football violence case around the world. And protests too. After all those rocks were so pointy.

[JJDXB]

Care to read trough?

If they did get hit with live rounds, then it does need to be investigated. I'm not denying if live rounds were used it's a serious issue.

But again, like with the Mavi Marmara incident, as much as we criticise soldiers/commandos for using live rounds, they are human and they were being attacked with pipe bombs.

[DobroVece]

If they did get hit with live rounds, then it does need to be investigated. I'm not denying if live rounds were used it's a serious issue.

But again, like with the Mavi Marmara incident, as much as we criticise soldiers/commandos for using live rounds, they are human and they were being attacked with pipe bombs.

Ok. But it's not like they didn't know what is to come. Barricades are the last resort for Serbs against suppressing them into Taci Kosovo system, if they give up that they can kiss the Serbia goodbye. Serbian government have been pleading for peaceful solution for days now. And after all that KFOR decides to put themselves in service of Pristina and brake up the barricades. Far from neutral at best....

[removeduser_4536284751384]

Care to read trough?

rubber bullets are live rounds

if it was lethal ammunition it would be called that.

[Their Law]

BBC article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15082675

Violence erupts on Kosovo-Serbia border
Several people have been injured in clashes between ethnic Serbs and Nato peacekeepers in the north of Kosovo.
A Nato spokesman said four soldiers were hurt by pipe bombs thrown at their positions, and that troops replied with tear gas and rubber bullets.
However, a hospital boss said six ethnic-Serb civilians admitted with wounds had been shot with live rounds.
Tension has soared recently after Kosovo moved to take control of its border crossings with Serbia.
The move has been resisted by ethnic Serbs in the north of Kosovo, who refuse to recognise the sovereignty of the government in Pristina.
Previously, the border posts had been guarded by ethnic Serb members of the Kosovan police. The ethnic-Albanian government suspected them of turning a blind eye to its ban on imports from Serbia.
Kosovan Serbs have built roadblocks to prevent access to two contested border posts, and even built a new track into Serbia to circumvent the crossing at Jarinje.

[The Despondent Mind]

God i admire the nato for political manipulation . I mean how they menage to Make Kosovo's independence as a good thing yet it's a bad thing that the Serbs in north Kosovo that want to split from State of Kosovo is Bad .

[JJDXB]

God i admire the nato for political manipulation . I mean how they menage to Make Kosovo's independence as a good thing yet it's a bad thing that the Serbs in north Kosovo that want to split from State of Kosovo is Bad .

If the Serb majority in the Serb areas want to rejoin Serbia, I'm fine with that.

But they haven't been administered by Serbia since the NATO intervention (Being part of Kosovo).



They are most definitely a minority.

According to the latest statistics, Kosovo is running at about 88% ethnic Albanian, 7% Serb in a country of 1.8 million people.

Serbia today has a population of about 7.2 million people, so if Kosovo was still a part of Serbia, the Albanian Kosovar 88% of that 1.8 (which would now total 9 million) would account for 17% of the population of Serbia.

If one supports the Serbs right in Kosovo to have their own land they too must also support the right of the Albanians of Kosovo to have their own right, and vice versa.

Ok. But it's not like they didn't know what is to come. Barricades are the last resort for Serbs against suppressing them into Taci Kosovo system, if they give up that they can kiss the Serbia goodbye. Serbian government have been pleading for peaceful solution for days now. And after all that KFOR decides to put themselves in service of Pristina and brake up the barricades. Far from neutral at best....

So you admit that there was a good chance of violence?

Besides, the Serbs aren't being oppressed (if they are, nowhere near the extent Albanians were during the late 80s and 90s). They have the full rights of everyone else in Kosovo. They have the right to vote in elections and they do have representation in the legislative system, but choose not to and then complain about suppression.

KFOR is, however, supposed to be peacekeeping on behalf of the government in Pristina. That is their mission.

Yes, Thaci needs to be sorted out, his corruption is already starting to stall Kosovo's growth. I don't like his blockade of Serbia, and both sides need to get over their nationalism and actually talk instead of pathetically dancing around the issue.

[DobroVece]

If the Serb majority in the Serb areas want to rejoin Serbia, I'm fine with that.

But they haven't been administered by Serbia since the NATO intervention (Being part of Kosovo).



They are most definitely a minority.

According to the latest statistics, Kosovo is running at about 88% ethnic Albanian, 7% Serb in a country of 1.8 million people.

Serbia today has a population of about 7.2 million people, so if Kosovo was still a part of Serbia, the Albanian Kosovar 88% of that 1.8 (which would now total 9 million) would account for 17% of the population of Serbia.

If one supports the Serbs right in Kosovo to have their own land they too must also support the right of the Albanians of Kosovo to have their own right, and vice versa.

It's easy to give Serbs their areas now when their numbers are reduced to a minimum and droping, and when they are pushed to small chunk of the north. Still Albanians would not consider even that. It's all or nothing for them, so what is your point?

So you admit that there was a good chance of violence?

When KFOR is forcing to break barricades there is always a good chance of violence. If Serbs give them up it's admitting Kosovo sovereignty. The problem was that KFOR shouldn't try to brake it up until peaceful solution is negotiated as Serbian government asked for days now.

Besides, the Serbs aren't being oppressed

Wana ask the Serbs on Kosovo about that?

(if they are, nowhere near the extent Albanians were during the late 80s and 90s).

Yea, because we eat their babies. The parallel between the two is exact at least.

They have the full rights of everyone else in Kosovo.

Like the right to live in a ghetto.

They have the right to vote in elections and they do have representation in the legislative system, but choose not to and then complain about suppression.

Off course, they want to vote on Serbian elections. Albanians boycott elections over a decade and complained about the same.

KFOR is, however, supposed to be peacekeeping on behalf of the government in Pristina. That is their mission.

Wow, no, no, no. KFOR is supposed to be peacekeeping on behalf of the UN, be status-neutral and guard safety of all people who live on Kosovo. That is their mission and responsibility.

Yes, Thaci needs to be sorted out

Yea, like in Hague.

I don't like his blockade of Serbia, and both sides need to get over their nationalism and actually talk instead of pathetically dancing around the issue.

What do you think Serbia is trying with this talks? But Albanian side do not want to talk about those issues.