One ethnic Serb has been shot and 4 other ethnic Serbs were wounded in clashes in Kosovska Mitrovica after a group of armed Albanians stormed the city’s bridge into Serbian quarters in order to “celebrate” Serbia’s basketball loss to Turkey.

Ethnic Serb Milos Radenkovic was shot in the arm during the clashes and he is in a stable condition after surgery. The other wounded ethnic Serbs have been sent home after medical intervention.

NATO troops move in on the crowd.

One EU policeman and one ethnic Albanian were also wounded.

The clashes started when a group of armed ethnic Albanians crossed over the bridge so they can celebrate Serbia’s basketball loss in the ethnic Serb quarter of the city.

The group of Albanians reached a cafe where ethnic Serbs were watching the basketball game and the Albanian celebration of Serbia’s loss sparked a confrontation.

Ethnic Albanian separatist policeman spokesman, Besim Hoti, says ethnic Albanians and Serbs pelted each other with stones Saturday when “Albanians started celebrating Turkey’s victory.”

Shots were fired followed by sirens and several hundred ethnic Serbs came out on the streets.

An Associated Press reporter heard gunshots and said police used tear gas to disperse the crowds surging toward the bridge that halves the city into the majority ethnic Albanian and minority Serb part.

Hoti could not confirm the reports, but said European Union police and NATO peacekeepers were called in to secure the bridge.

EU has condemned the incident and plans to take unspecified “measures” in cooperation with the ethnic Albanian police so that these sort of incidents do not happen in the future.

EU says that they will not tolerate “unlawful conduct”.

September 12, 2010
SERBIANNA

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