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Yahoo! News
Ethnic Albanians Fire on Peacekeepers
Thu Aug 29, 8:59 PM ET
By GARENTINA KRAJA, Associated Press Writer
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - NATO ( news - web sites) peacekeepers and
ethnic Albanian gunmen traded gunfire for two hours
Thursday, after the troops were called in to protect Serb farmers,
officials said.
The fighting was some of the heaviest involving peacekeepers since
they arrived three years ago. But there were no reports of
any casualties, and one ethnic Albanian was detained.
The Italian peacekeepers were called in after shots were fired at four
Serbs working their land under the protection of U.N. forces
and local police, United Nations ( news - web sites) spokesman Andrea
Angeli said. They came under fire as they arrived in the
village of Gorazdevac, some 55 miles west of the provincial capital
Pristina, Angeli said.
Two military helicopters helped fight off the attackers during the
clash, which ended with one suspect being detained, a NATO
official said on condition of anonymity.
The official did not specify how many peacekeepers and U.N. police were
involved, but said special forces were called in after the
regular peacekeeping contingent responsible for the area asked for
help.
The detained suspect was an ethnic Albanian, Angeli said.
The firefight came as the U.N. administration has increased efforts to
repatriate Serbs who fled Kosovo because of ethnic violence.
It was the first time peacekeepers guarding the Serb minority were shot
at since arriving after troops loyal to former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic ( news - web sites) left in 1999.
Serbs have been targeted by ethnic Albanian extremists seeking revenge
for the crackdown under Milosevic that left thousands
dead, and dozens of Serbs have been killed over the past three years.
Tens of thousands have fled.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
