KOSOVO: MITROVICA: PROTESTORS CLASH WITH K-FOR TROOPS
Natural Sound
Hundreds of ethnic Albanian and Serbian rioters showered French and Italian peacekeepers with stones and bottles on Friday in a second day of clashes at a bridge dividing the northwestern city of Mitrovica into Serb and Albanian enclaves.
French troops responded with tear gas and percussion grenades to try to disperse the crowd, which hurled stones and bottles repeatedly for nearly two hours until the Albanian protestors dispersed.
Several people were injured but there was no official casualty count.
Italian riot police eventually managed to separate the crowd from the French soldiers positioned on the bridge, which was covered with broken glass and other debris.
The violence erupted one day after a melee Thursday between hundreds of Serbs and Albanians, which drew in French peacekeepers and Italian police who tried to separate them.
Fifteen police and soldiers were slightly injured, some by an exploding grenade and the rest by stones hurled by both sides.
Several ethnic Albanian residents of Kosovska Mitrovica, who spoke on the phone on condition of anonymity, said one Albanian, whom they identified by name, was shot to death.
Split into Serb and Albanian sections, the mining town of Kosovska Mitrovica is divided by the Ibar River.
Hundreds of ethnic Albanians have demonstrated sporadically over the past two months, demanding the right to return to their homes in the Serb sector.
French peacekeepers in the region have prevented most from doing so, fearing bloodshed.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: N-A-T-O OPENS IBAR FOOTBRIDGE
English/Nat
NATO peacekeepers opened a footbridge in Mitrovica on Thursday to allow a few Kosovo Albanians to return to their homes on the Serb side of this ethnically divided city, but stone-throwing Serbs drove back the first people who tried to cross.
Last week, the alliance announced it would allow up to 120 Albanian families to return to homes they had fled on the Serb-controlled north bank of the Ibar River, which divides this northwestern Kosovo city into rival ethnic communities.
To facilitate the return, NATO built a footbridge across the Ibar near three high-rise apartment houses where the ethnic Albanians had been living.
While peacekeepers patrolled the bridge, around 150 Serbs braved driving rain to assemble at the northern end of the bridge.
Signs in Albanian and Serbian languages at both sides of the bridge announced that the crossing would be open from 7-30 a-m to 6 p-m for the tenants of three apartment buildings, school pupils and those who want to go to the market place on the south bank.
When two ethnic Albanian men tried to cross, they were sent back in a hail of stones.
French and Canadian troops rushed to the area but struggled to control the crowd.
An A-P-T-N crew vehicle caught up in the melee also came under attack from stone-throwing Serbs.
Later, NATO troops strung barbed wire in front of the apartment houses and took up guard positions around the area.
This latest confrontation underscores the rising ethnic tensions in this volatile region nearly nine months after NATO-led peacekeepers arrived.
Serb community leader Oliver Ivanovic expressed regret over the stoning.
He said Serbs did not want the ethnic Albanians to return unless Serbs in isolated villages in the nearby Vucitrn area were better protected.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
A lot of people are very angry, Serb people wait for the Albanians which try to cross to the north side by the KFOR escort, but they was too angry because of very simple reasons. Yesterday I was at Sratina and Grace (settlements south west of Pristina) and a lot of Serb people must be moved from this area because of high pressure from Albanian side. At the same time KFOR try to bring back the Albanians. This is absolutely unacceptable for the Serbs.
SUPER CAPTION: Oliver Ivanovic, Serb Community Representative
Despite the setback, U-N officials say they won't abandon their plans to return the ethnic Albanians as a first step to reuniting this mining and industrial city.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Forty-three families have been informed that they have the opportunity today to go back to their apartments in the three tower buildings that you can see from here on the north bank of the river. All these measures of course increase security in the area around the apartment buildings, the return, the establishment of the footbridge and the discussions on further returns all are meant to be a normalisation of the situation in Mitrovica on both sides and all of Mitrovica.
SUPER CAPTION: Kirsten Haupt, US spokeswoman in Mitrovica
U-N officials and Albanian community leaders have agreed to make a fresh crossover attempt on Friday.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: REVIEW OF THE WEEKS CLASHES
English/Nat
In Northern Kosovo, violence has flared up again on the streets of Serb enclave of Mitrovica.
Serbs threw stones at a German K-FOR armoured personnel carrier driving through a street in Mitrovica as French K-FOR soldiers stood by.
A German armoured personnel carrier was attacked with stones and other missiles in the mainly Serb enclave of northern Mitrovica on Tuesday.
Mitrovica is Kosovo's most ethnically divided town.
Since the end of the Kosovo conflict last year, residential areas have become more segregated with Ethnic Albanians settling south of the river Ibar and Serbs remaining in the northern sector.
And tensions have been rising in the town since a grenade attack on a U-N bus killed two elderly Serbs earlier this month.
Nine people have been killed and dozens injured in violence in Mitrovica in the past several weeks.
On Monday tempers reached boiling point as NATO troops used tear gas to contain thousands of Albanians trying to cross the bridge that divides the two communities into the Serb sector.
The situation eased on Tuesday, and the stone-throwing was the only incident to disturb the peace.
Oliver Ivanovich, the Serb spokesman in Mitrovica, said the Serb community had been unsettled by enormity of the Albanian protest, which he said was designed to intimidate them.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We were worried because we heard 5-6000 Albanians tried to cross the bridge. This is dangerous for Serbs because Albanians are trying to show us their strength and they will do what they want whenever they want.
SUPER CAPTION: Oliver Ivanovich, spokesman for Mitrovica Serbs
British K-FOR spokesman Neville Clayton confirmed the vehicle had come under attack in the Serb-dominated north of the city.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Very recently there has been an incident in which a German APC was attacked with various stones, and objects thrown through the air at the vehicle.
SUPER CAPTION: Neville Clayton, British KFOR spokesman
Meanwhile, French K-FOR soldiers remained in their barracks at their station on the west side of Mitrovica bridge as British and American soldiers patrol to the south.
In a bid to calm tensions, NATO relaxed a citywide curfew on Tuesday and suspended most weapons searches.
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Protesting Serbs confront NATO troops at roadblocks ADDS daylight video, Dpt PM
(20 Oct 2011)
++NIGHT SHOTS++
Jagnjence village, near Zubin Potok
1. Wide of KFOR (Kosovo Force, NATO-led peacekeepers) soldiers with riot shields standing in line facing barricades
2. Various of scuffles between KFOR soldiers and Serb protesters at barricade
3. Pan from KFOR soldiers on one side of fire to protesters jeering on other side of fire
4. Tilt up of KFOR soldiers AUDIO: protesters jeering
5. Various of KFOR soldiers scuffling with Serb protesters, soldiers firing tear gas
6. Wide of protesters seated, clapping hands and chanting
7. Various of protesters trying to stop KFOR military vehicle, throwing stones at windscreen
Jagnjence village, near Zubin Potok
8. Wide of tear gas coming out of the crowd, people shouting
9. Close up of KFOR soldiers
10. People gathering, woman holding Serbian flag, soldiers behind them
11. Soldiers showering people with water
12. Soldiers using water hose, people fleeing
13. Wide of women holding candles in front of KFOR soldiers (++EARLIER SHOT++)
14. Close up of woman holding Serbian flag, singing 'Kosovo is Serbia' (++EARLIER SHOT++)
15. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Slavisa Ristic, mayor of Zupce:
As we have done so far, we will do so today. We will peacefully defend our village. We will not allow them, maybe Albanians paid them money, maybe they like the Albanians, but we will never leave this place, (we will stay) as long as we need to. No one can love our Kolasin (village) and our Serbia more then us.
16. Wide of soldiers on truck
Pristina
17. Pan of meeting of deputy Prime-minister of Kosovo, Hajredin Kuqi
18. Mid of Kuqi
19. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Hajredin Kuqi, deputy Prime-minister of Kosovo:
This is an operation that is done with full coordination of the Kosovo authorities, KFOR and EULEX. We want to bring law and order to the whole territory of Kosovo. All the roads must be unblocked. We want to create good living conditions for our Serb citizens in the north, so they can move freely and live a normal life.
20. Wide of people walking on the street
21. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) Lorik Kendusi, vox pop:
I hope that everything will be over soon, it will be good for Serbia and for us, so we can all together move to Europe, and forget the past.
22. Wide of Pristina street
STORYLINE:
Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs on Thursday as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.
For nearly three months, Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs.
The Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and consider the region a part of the larger Serbian nation.
After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved in
at dawn on Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.
A spokesman for the 5,500-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission said he believed part of one roadblock was removed,
but could not give details because the operation was ongoing.
During the pushing and shouting between the two groups, the troops occasionally used pepper spray against the demonstrators, who sat down on the road some 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of the divided town of Mitrovica.
Several dozen protesters sought medical help because of the tear gas, Serbian state TV said.
The peacekeepers used loudspeakers to urge the crowds to disperse or force would be used, while Serb leaders urged the demonstrators to remain peaceful. NATO's unmanned drones could be seen flying overhead.
Local Serb official Slavisa Ristic pledged the Serbs will remain on the barricades indefinitely.
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Fear and Exodus: Ethnic Serbs squeezed out of Kosovo
Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo are living in fear of losing their land and property as the situation in the region remains precarious.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: U-S SEARCHES PART OF SERB AREA
English/Nat
Determined to show that no area of Kosovo is off-limits, U-S paratroopers searched part of Mitrovica's Serb-controlled north three days after they were driven away by stone-throwing Serbs.
At least eight people were arrested for possession of illegal weapons on Wednesday before the Americans left for the ethnic Albanian south bank of the Ibar River.
A NATO spokesman said they seized a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, several rifles, several grenades and ammunition.
The purpose of the search for weapons in the Serb-controlled north of Mitrovica was as much about showing the Serbs that the NATO-led Kosovo Force is the main power here.
As they crossed the main bridge to the south of the city, all 300 U-S paratroopers, wearing full combat gear, marched past a cafe frequented by Serb militants.
Some Serbs shouted abuse but made no move against the troops.
It was the first time the Americans, from the 504th Airborne Infantry, had been on the north side since they and German forces were driven away by stone-throwing Serbs during a weapons search on Sunday.
French troops helped secure the area when the three-hour, house-to-house search began about 5:30 (local time) 04:30GMT on Wednesday morning, about half an hour before the daily curfew ends.
The battalion commander said the search was designed to find illegal weapons and to demonstrate K-FOR's ability to operate freely in north Mitrovica.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The purpose of today's operation was two-fold - the first was to confiscate weapons and ammunition in order to make Mitrovica, or northern Mitrovica, a safer place. The second purpose of the operation was to demonstrate K-FOR's ability to operate freely in north Mitrovica. I think both of those missions were accomplished today. We began about 0600 this morning and completed the search this morning without incident and came back across the western bridge.
SUPER CAPTION: Lt Colonel Michael Ellerbe, US batallion commander
The U-S batallion commander said they had found a small amount of weapons during the search.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We found a couple of weapons, hand grenades, a small amount of ammunition, six magazines, and given the fact that in all probability that they have known for the last couple of days that we're conducting search operation, things that you would normally expect to find are not there.
SUPER CAPTION: Lt Colonel Michael Ellerbe, US batallion commander
The U-S paratroopers stood guard on the bridge with French peacekeepers to relieve British and Canadians troops, who bore the brunt of Tuesday's scuffles.
NATO and the U-S have accused President Slobodan Milosevic's government of being behind the nearly three weeks of violence in Mitrovica, which has the largest remaining Serb enclave in Kosovo.
Yugoslavia rejected the accusations on Tuesday, saying it was the United States that instigated the trouble.
Up to 50-thousand ethnic Albanians marched to the city on Monday to demand access to the Serb areas.
They broke through French lines and surged onto the main bridge crossing the Ibar River, which separates the two sides of town, but were driven back by British, Canadian, French and Danish troops.
Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during Milosevic's 18-month crackdown against separatists in Kosovo.
After NATO bombing forced the Serb troops to withdraw last spring, ethnic Albanians began attacking Serbs in revenge.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: KFOR & SERBS CLASH
Natural Sound
French peacekeepers clashed with hundreds of Serbs late on Saturday in a suburb of Mitrovica, touching off a melee that destroyed one U-N police car and damaged 17 other UN vehicles.
The riot began after KFOR peacekeepers brought about 80 ethnic Albanians to the predominantly Serb, northern part of the town to visit the homes they had fled last year.
A standoff developed between the two groups, after the Serbs claimed that some of the Albanians were not former residents.
Clashes started as troops moved in.
By late evening Saturday, the French peacekeepers were seen regrouping while much of the Serb crowd dispersed.
A local Serb leader has accused KFOR of failing in its mission to protect Serb citizens.
Security remained tight a day later, as Italian, Danish and French KFOR soldiers set up a secure corridor for Serbs to walk to the Serb orthodox church in the Albanian dominated southern part of the city.
The city's only orthodox church is in the South of Mitrovica, which has an ethnic Albanian majority.
But violence has led them to practice their faith in Zvecane, a few kilometres north of the city.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
At 1745 four trucks of Albanians coming back from the South of the city were stopped by Serbs from the Northern part of the city. Some negotiation started to prevent any further problem. Two hours later at 1945 the situation worsened and a company of riot control were airlifted by chopper to the moment in the city. At 2030 three Albanian houses were burnt near the monument and thought it seemed to get quieter we've had stones thrown at us.
SUPER CAPTION: Lt. Bouysson, French Spokesman for KFOR
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WRAP Serb tanks near border, Mitrovica demo, Friday prayers
SHOTLIST
Mitrovica
1. Wide top shot of rally showing bridge dividing North and South Mitrovica; UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) police sealing bridge
2. Riot police
3. Protesters waving Serbian flags and chanting slogans
4. Riot police with batons and shields
5. KFOR (NATO led Kosovo Force) helicopter flying overhead
6. Bridge, demonstration
7. Top shot of riot police
8. Riot police moving into position
9. Top shot of demonstration
10. Wide of demonstrators, smoke in the crowds, UPSOUND firecrackers and demonstrators chanting
11. Mid of riot police
12. Wide demonstrators, UPSOUND firecrackers
13. Wide of riot police, firecracker being fired by demonstrators in foreground, smoke
14. Wide demonstrators briefly dispersing, UPSOUND firecrackers
Merdare
15. Wide of border crossing with Serbia and Kosovo
16. Signs on side of road reading 'Merdare' and 'STOP'
17. NATO soldier looking toward Serbia proper with binoculars
18. Wide of Serbian military tanks on the Serbian side of the border
19. Kosovo border police officer with binoculars watching Serb tanks on the other side of the border
20. Wide of the Serbian military tanks on the Serb side of the border
Pristina
21. Exterior of main mosque in central Pristina
22. Tilt down interior of people praying inside the mosque
23. Close up of Kosovo Albanians praying
24. Window, people outside
25. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) Naim Ternava, Head of Kosovo's Muslim community:
We thank all the counties, governments and their people that give support and recognition to our new born county. Forever we need to remember their support and we need not to forget all those countries who do support us, we need them to feel proud of us, we will not fail them.
26. People inside the mosque praying
27. Various of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci meeting head of EU representatives, Peter Faith
28. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter Faith, Head of EU representatives:
I would like to ensure that the people in the country should have confidence in the government and in the international community particularly in UN and NATO to help and assure the territorial integrity of Kosovo that is the signal I wanted to give.
29. Wide of both officials
30. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) Hashim Thaci, Kosovo Prime Minister:
The Serb reactions are not only toward Kosovo being independent. But toward the entire democratic world. This is confrontation with civilisation. And people who acted like that, should take responsibility for it.
31. Wide of both officials leaving
STORYLINE
Serbs protesting against Kosovo's independence attacked UN police guarding a key bridge in northern Kosovo with stones and empty glass
bottles Friday.
Some 5,000 Serbs rallied in this tense town, waving Serbian flags and chanting Kosovo is ours! in a fifth day of protests since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence last weekend.
In a brief skirmish with UN police, protesters lobbed firecrackers. No one appeared to be injured, and no tear gas was fired as earlier reported.
The Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar River - dividing Kosovo Serbs from ethnic Albanians - has long been a flashpoint of tensions in Kosovo's restive north.
About 100 riot police with batons and shields further blocked any attempts by demonstrators to cross Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar River.
Mitrovica is an ethnically divided town, with predominantly ethnic Albanians living in the south and Serb districts in the north.
Riot police in formation blocked a road leading to the bridge, preventing thousands of ethnic Serbs from moving ahead.
NATO-led also troops intensified their presence in the city, after several days of violence by Serbian extremists angry at Kosovo's declaration of independence.
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Security, KFOR on streets of tense Mitrovica
SHOTLIST
North Mitrovica
1. Pan of north Mitrovica skyline
2. Mosque and church
3. Bridge dividing north and south Mitrovica as seen from the north, police in foreground
4. Mitrovica police
5. Momcilo Arlov, Serbian student rally organiser, speaking to locals
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Momcilo Arlov, Serbian student rally organiser
But again I am appealing to the international community to help us to maintain peace. Because these protests are not directed towards the K. Albanian community. These protest are directed against the rule of force, rather than the rule of law that we are now seeing being broken apart. (JUMPS TO CLOSE-UP VIEW) Any kind of incident from their side, any kind of faction from their side could be misinterpreted as the incident from the K. Serbian side could lead to a real escalation of violence that we won't be able to control. For example, yesterday you saw what happened on the border. If we had the UNMIK (United Nation Mission in Kosovo) and KFOR be more tolerant, we wouldn't have the problems that we had at the bridge here yesterday. We did succeed speaking in all honesty to agree with UNMIK so that they pulled the special police units further back to the South. So that the people here would not see them in their full armour. Because that is seen as provocation as well. So I am using this chance again to appeal to the international community, to try to calm down the situation because the situation is really sensitive and we really (only) need a simple thing to further escalate the violence.
South Mitrovica
7. Traffic sign indicating way to Belgrade and Pristina
8. Various of KFOR soldiers patrolling, walking along the bridge
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Captain Leveque, Belgian KFOR
Well, until now, here at my spot it has been pretty calm. So we hope that it stays calm because that is a good sign for the future over here.
10. Bridge dividing North and South Mitrovica
11. Sign post reading (in English) Mitrovica Bridge, with instructions on how to cross the bridge
12. French KFOR observation post with NATO and French flag
13. Mitrovica police at bridge
14. Bridge dividing north and south Mitrovica as seen from the south
STORYLINE
NATO troops continued intensified patrols in North and South Mitrovica on Saturday, a day after Serbs protesting Kosovo's independence attacked UN police guarding a key bridge with stones and empty glass bottles.
Kosovo Serbs planned to stage another rally on Saturday to show their frustration and one of the organisers told AP Television they wanted to appeal to the international community to help ease tensions.
Speaking in Pristina, Momcilo Arlov said the international community needed to calm down the situation because the situation is really sensitive and we really (only) need a simple thing to further escalate the violence.
At the bridge where the attack took place, KFOR troops stepped up their patrols on Saturday.
Captain Leveque of the Belgian KFOR contingent told AP Television that the situation had been calm, adding we hope that it stays calm because that is a good sign for the future over here.
More than a dozen nations have recognised Kosovo's declaration of independence, but Serbia's government, backed by Russia, China and Spain among others, has rejected it as illegal.
Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, had not been under Belgrade's control since 1999, when NATO launched air strikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
A UN mission has governed Kosovo since, with more than 16-thousand NATO troops and KFOR, a multiethnic force, policing the province.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: CALM RETURNS AFTER CLASHES
(22 Feb 2000) Eng/Albanian/Nat
Calm appears to have returned to the ethnically divided Kosovan town of Mitrovica following clashes on Monday between K-FOR soldiers and thousands of Albanian protesters.
The Albanians had marched to Mitrovica to protest against the division of the ethnically divided city, but were prevented from crossing a bridge into the Serb area of the city by K-FOR peacekeepers.
Tear gas was fired, but after a stand-off of several hours the crowd dispersed.
Simmering tensions in the divided city of Mitrovica erupted on Monday on one side of the bridge that separates the town's Serb and Albanian populations.
Tens of thousands of Albanian protesters tried to force their way across a bridge over the Ibar River into the northern district inhabited by the Serbs.
Four-thousand Serbs gathered on the other side of the bridge ready to do battle if the Albanians tried to enter their part of the city.
They stood jeering and taunting the Albanians with nationalist slogans, waving the Serbian flag.
In an effort to disperse the ethnic Albanian protesters, French troops fired tear gas into the crowd.
But the gas inadvertently spread over the British soldiers trying to hold back the Albanians.
As darkness fell, the Albanian demonstrators began to disperse and leave the city.
By Tuesday morning the only sign of the trouble was the stones and debris left lying on the bridge.
There has been a change-over in the troops patrolling the area, with U-S troops taking over from the British force at the bridge area.
Captain Joe Butterfield, an officer commanding British K-FOR troops, said he was confident his troops had handled the confrontation in an appropriate manner.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The first thing to say is that we weren't attempting to stop the protest. It was a completely lawful protest and everyone had a right to be there. All we were attempting to do was prevent them from crossing over the bridge which was their stated intention, to go into the north. As far as the rest of yesterday went, after about six o'clock in the evening it was extremely quiet. I think people felt they'd made their point and they were happy to go home and disperse as it got dark.
SUPER CAPTION: Captain Joe Butterfield, British K-FOR Officer
Searches for weapons resumed at roadblocks around the city, although house-to-house checks were suspended as K-FOR troops pleaded exhaustion after the rigours of policing Monday's demonstration.
Albanians in Mitrovica on Tuesday said they didn't regret the demonstration but were sorry that K-FOR troops had been forced to intervene.
SOUNDBITE: (Albanian)
All the protest was glorious and ended with dignity. I don't think there were any serious incidents. You may have some people who are thoughtless but those incidents were in no way directed towards K-FOR troops and even less towards British troops.
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop
The recent tensions began early this month after a grenade attack on a U-N bus killed two elderly Serbs south of the city.
That triggered a round of revenge attacks that have left nine people dead and scores injured.
Mitrovica is the most ethnically tense city in Kosovo because it contains the largest Serb community remaining in the province.
Most Kosovo Serbs fled the province after the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops in June and the arrival of NATO-led peacekeepers.
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WRAP UN police retake UN courthouse, police spksman ADDS KFOR vehicles, teargas
Northern Mitrovica
1. Various of smoke rising from behind buildings
2. Various of fire near house
3. Wide of plume of smoke rising
4. United Nations armoured vehicles driving past in street
5. Wide of people standing around damaged ambulance
6. Women in front of damaged ambulance
7. Damaged ambulance
8. SOUNDBITE: (Serbian) Dr Gordana Cabric, Involved in accident:
This is terrible, this is absolutely terrible. We came here to help people who were injured.
9. Cutaway of Italian soldier
10. SOUNDBITE: (Serbian) Dr Gordana Cabric, involved in accident:
We could have been killed by them. If that's democracy, I don't know how they can call it democracy.
11. Various of cartridge of stun grenade on road
12. Wide of buses and people in street, smoke rising in background
13. KFOR vehicles in street
14. Soldiers patrolling in street
15. Wide of street
Mitrovica
16. Various of police leading demonstrators out from UN courthouse
17. People gathering around tank, bang on it
18. Wide of riot police in street
19. Close of riot police
20. Wide of police gathered by UN vehicle
21. Police vans arriving
22. Wide of people in street
23. Smoke and tear gas rising from residential building
24. People in street
25. Smoke and tear gas rising from buildings
26. Helicopter in air
27. Various of smoke and tear gas rising from buildings
Pristina
28. Wide of city centre, flower arrangement spelling out the word Newborn
29. People walking in street
30. SOUNDBITE: (English) Veton Elshani, Kosovo Police Spokesman:
Around 5:35 minutes in the morning today, UNMIK police went inside the municipal and district court and arrested 53 people. We did not use any force, we did not use any force because there was no need, there was no resistance from the other side. At around 7.30 there were around 200-300 citizens, protesters, gathered in front of the municipal and district court in the vicinity and started to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at UNMIK personnel, at KFOR, damaging - in fact burning - two of their vehicles from UNMIK side and two from KFOR. And at around 8 o'clock in the morning there was an explosion that happened in this vicinity in which explosion three UNMIK police officers were injured and two KFOR soldiers as well.
31. Police vehicles outside building
32. Close of car
33. Flags outside police station
34. Officers crossing road
STORYLINE:
United Nations special police backed by NATO troops stormed a UN courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo on Monday, evicting Serb demonstrators who have occupied the building since last week to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Meanwhile in northern Mitrovica, an ambulance was involved in a collision with a UN vehicle
This is terrible, this is absolutely terrible. We came here to help people who were injured, said Dr Gordana Cabric who was in the ambulance at the time of the accident.
Cabric said that the ambulance collided with a UN vehicle.
AP Television cannot independently verify the cause of the accident.
Twenty-two police officers from Poland were injured in the clashes at the courthouse Kosovska Mitrovica after grenades were thrown at them, Polish national police said.
The Poles were guarding the UN courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica as UN special police backed by NATO troops stormed the building to evict Serb demonstrators who occupied the building last week to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Thousands of Serbs hurling stones and gasoline bombs surrounded the courthouse and clashed with riot police and NATO soldiers, who used tear gas and stun grenades to try to keep the rioters away from the building.
The Kosovo Serbs took over the UN court last Friday.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: ETHNIC ALBANIANS MARCH INTO SERB AREA
Natural Sound
A large crowd of ethnic Albanians on Wednesday marched into the Serb sector of the Kosovo city of Mitrovica.
Although there were no reports of open violence or casualties, the march highlighted continuing tensions in the ethnically divided city.
However, NATO and U-N officials have since said that ethnic turmoil has declined sharply since peacekeepers arrived in the war-ravaged Yugoslav province and it will soon be up to Kosovo's people to keep the peace themselves.
In the divided Kosovo city of Mitrovica, ethnic tensions continue to run high in the aftermath of the war.
On Wednesday, a large, well-armed contingent of French soldiers and police prevented violence from erupting during a march by ethnic Albanians through the Serb-held section of the city.
About 5-thousand ethnic Albanians, closely guarded by the French peacekeepers, marched across a bridge dividing the northern Kosovo town and through the Serb sector.
The crowd chanted Albania, Albania and U-C-K, U-C-K, the Albanian-language initials for the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Serbs retorted with shouts of Serbia! Serbia!
Despite some stone throwing and flag burning by both sides at the disputed bridge, the hour-long march went off without serious violence, no small feat in a city that has come to symbolise Kosovo's ethnic divide.
NATO and the United Nations have been brokering talks aimed at defusing tension in the town since Serbs blocked the bridge several weeks ago.
NATO has struggled to restrain returning ethnic Albanian refugees from taking revenge on minority Serbs who subjected them to brutal abuse during the Kosovo conflict.
At least 60-thousand Serbs have fled the province for fear of reprisals.
NATO's mission has been complicated by the unexpectedly rapid return of refugees to Kosovo since the alliance's 78-day bombing campaign forced Yugoslavia's government to accept a peace plan and pull out its troops.
Of an estimated 860-thousand Albanians who fled or were expelled from Kosovo during the conflict, more than 600-thousand have returned since NATO peacekeepers began arriving June 12.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: K-F-O-R SEARCHES CONTINUE
English/Nat
VOICED BY: VERA FRANKL
NATO is holding a special meeting this Friday on Mitrovica as concerns are mounting about the growing tensions between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
American and French K-FOR troops carried out more searches on the northern Serb-dominated side of the town on Wednesday.
In addition to finding weapons, the purpose of the search was also to demonstrate to the Serbs that the NATO-led Kosovo Force is the main power in Kosovo.
The commander of the KFOR forces, General Klaus Reinhardt, visited the town and said searches would continue as long as necessary although he admitted that it was impossible to find all the illegal weapons in the city.
To help ease some of the tension, French troops are building an alternative bridge across the river that divides the city.
VOICE-OVER:
00:02
In the ethnically-divided city of Mitrovica, the search for weapons continues.
00:07
By end of a painstaking three-hour search, the peacekeepers have uncovered a large cachet of weapons, including rifles, ammunition and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
00:18
So far there are no plans to scale down the operation.
00:22
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We know that there were weapons in the city and we've been searching now for quite a few days beforehand, in smaller entities and then we enlarged now for the last couple of days.
SUPERCAPTION: General Klaus Reinhardt, Commander of peacekeepers in Kosovo
00:36
Three days after they were driven away by stone-throwing Serbs, U-S paratroopers are venturing back into the Serb-controlled north.
00:44
They want to show that no part of Kosovo is off-limits.
00:47
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The purpose of today's operation was two-fold - the first was to confiscate weapons and ammunition in order to make Mitrovica, or northern Mitrovica, a safer place. The second purpose of the operation was to demonstrate K-FOR's ability to operate freely in north Mitrovica. I think both of those missions were accomplished today.
SUPER CAPTION: Lt Colonel Michael Ellerbe, US batallion commander
01:07
Not all peacekeepers are welcome. This Serb woman complained that K-FOR troops damaged her property while searching her garage.
01:15
But there's hope on the banks of the river, where French engineers are constructing a makeshift footbridge to allow Albanians on the south to cross safely to the Serb side.
01:26
Building other kinds of bridges within this divided community won't be so easy.
01:33
VISION ENDS
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News - Kosovska Mitrovica - March 17, 2008
Protesters attacked with tear gas, shock bombs and live ammunition.
17 March 2008
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Kosovska Mitrovica was in turmoil this morning after UNMIK and KFOR stormed a local court to arrest Serbs.
Beta news agency says that several hundred soldiers at 05:30 CET surrounded the court, where Serb judicial workers, demanding to return to their jobs, were protesting since Friday.
They first handcuffed the men, and then tied the women's hands with ropes. The workers were not resisting the arrest. When the troops moved outside to take them away, a large group of citizens blocked the road.
The citizens, local Serbs in the divided town, then started throwing stones at UNMIK. Soldiers responded by throwing back tear gas and shock bombs.
The protesting crowd managed to stop two vehicles and set the Serbs inside free. Both men and women, 21 in all, were among those in this way released from UNMIK custody.
Officials in Pristina said early this morning that 53 Serbs were arrested without any use of force, but that protests are ongoing.
The 32 Serbs detained this morning have in the meantime been released and will return to the north.
During the morning, rioting spread to other parts of the town, where chaos was seen on the streets at 07:00. Bombs were thrown and vehicles, including KFOR and UNMIK, were set on fire. Sirens were also heard.
B92's sources say that up to 35 international soldiers and policemen have been injured, five of them seriously.
Three Serbs are also in serious condition, one of them having sustained life-threatening gunshot wounds. He has been identified as Neboja Vukomanovi. Doctors in Kragujevac, where he has been transferred, are figthing for his life.
Further 70 Serbs have also been treated, 15 of them for serious injuries that Hospital officials say most of the wounds were inflicted by firearms.
Serbian officials have said that UNMIK fired at protesters from sniper rifles, but this has been denied by the UN in the province. ... (Snip) ...
Read more about this event at:
Protest over bridge barricade in divided Kosovo town
Residents react after Kosovo police fired tear gas Sunday to disperse stone-throwing protesters demanding the removal of a barricade on a bridge linking ethnic Albanians and Serbs in the divided town of Mitrovica. Duration: 00:41
KOSOVO: MITROVICA: BITTER CLASHES UPDATE
Natural Sound
NATO-led peacekeepers fired tear gas for a second straight day in Kosovo to disperse ethnic Albanians angry at recent violent deaths of members of their community.
Two more ethnic Albanians died on Saturday from gunshot wounds suffered two days ago during clashes in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.
The death toll from four days of violence has now risen to ten while two more men remain in a serious condition in a Pristina hospital.
The grieving continues in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.
Two more ethnic Albanians died on Saturday from gunshot wounds suffered two days ago during clashes in the Kosovo town.
The death toll from four days of unrest has now risen to ten.
The numbers could rise further - two more men remain in a serious condition in a hospital in the capital, Pristina.
Tension is rising in the region.
On Friday, French troops fired tear gas to disperse around five hundred rioters after they were pelted with stones and bottles.
The crowd accused N-A-T-O-led peacekeepers of failing to prevent the riot deaths of their people.
Two dozen Serbs also were injured in the riots.
According to a UN official, 30 Albanian families were evacuated during the night from the Serb-controlled part of the city to the southern Albanian district.
The families, which include 104 people, are being housed in community shelters.
The situation remained tense on Saturday.
NATO-led peacekeepers were forced to use tear gas once again to disperse ethnic Albanians who had gathered on a bridge over the Ibar River, which divides the city into hostile ethnic camps.
Witnesses said peacekeeping troops wearing riot shields charged at the crowd, trying to force back protesters who were hurling rocks and bottles.
Around nine thousand Serbs control the north bank, and ninety thousand ethnic Albanians live on the south side of the city, 30 miles northwest of Pristina.
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Serbs defy NATO peacekeepers' deadline to remove barricades
(18 Oct 2011)
Zubin Potok, Serb controlled north Kosovo
1. Close up of KFOR (NATO Kosovo Force) armed personnel carrier (APC)
2. Mid of KFOR convoy
3. Wide of people standing at barricades and blocking the road
4. Mid of armed KFOR soldiers
5. Close up of two KFOR soldiers
6. Wide of Serb representatives talking to KFOR colonel Klaus Glab at table in the yard
7. Various of meeting
8. Mid of Colonel Klaus Glab of German KFOR and Slavisa Ristic, Serb mayor of Zubin Potok approaching people gathered at barricade
9. Wide of Glab and Ristic shaking hands
10. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Slavisa Ristic, Mayor of Zubin Potok:
After the negotiations we had, the agreement is that the convoy of KFOR returns to its base. They will respect our demand that they will wait until we all (Serbs) meet and resolve the issue.
11. Wide of people at the barricade
Cabra village, Albanian side, south Kosovo
12. Wide of KFOR convoy at village Cabra, Albanian controlled side of Kosovo
13. Mid of German KFOR troops
14. Close up of KFOR soldier on top of APC with machine gun
15. Various of KFOR leaving village, pulling out to the base
Banjince village, Albanian side, south Kosovo
16. Set up shot of Kosovo prime minister, Hashim Thaci
17. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Hashim Thaci, Kosovo prime minister:
KFOR and EULEX are cooperating well, they have the full support of the Kosovo government. It is in our common interest that the rule of law is applied to whole territory of Kosovo, that there is freedom of movement at all territories of Kosovo, that people and goods are moving freely, and that we build a democratic environment for people's lives here. We want to build a better Kosovo, for all citizens of Kosovo, no matter what nationality they are. These actions are coordinated between international community and government of Kosovo.
18. Thaci walking away
Northern Mitrovica, Kosovo
19. Various of people blocking the street in North Mitrovica
20. Wide of concrete road block
21. Bridge name pole on the ground
22. Wide of man walking over the bridge
23. Wide of KFOR APC parked by the bridge
24. Various of police guarding the protesters
STORYLINE
Serbs defied a Tuesday deadline to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo and gathered by the hundreds to protect them from removal by NATO-led troops.
The 5,500-strong peacekeeping force had requested that the 16 barriers of rocks, mud and logs be taken down by early Tuesday.
Hundreds of Serbs gathered at the barriers at Zubin Potok to protect them from forced removal by the peacekeepers who say they want to establish freedom of movement in the region, and reopen supply routes for their troops.
Following discussions between Colonel Klaus Glab of German KFOR (NATO Kosovo Force) and Serb representatives, the NATO troops returned back to the Cabra village on the Albanian side.
After the negotiations we had, the agreement is that the convoy of KFOR returns to its base. They will respect our demand that they will wait until we all (Serbs) meet and resolve the issue, said Mayor of Zubin Potok Slavisa Ristic.
For nearly three months, Kosovo Serbs have been blocking main roads to stop Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending their control over the Serb-run territory.
Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci urged the international peacekeepers to apply the rule of law and ensure freedom of movement on all territories of Kosovo.
We want to build a better Kosovo, for all citizens of Kosovo, no matter what nationality they are, Thaci told AP Television News in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. These actions are coordinated between the international community and the government of Kosovo.
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KOSOVO: MITROVICA: K-FOR TROOPS CLASH WITH PROTESTERS
English/Nat
XFA
NATO-led peacekeepers chased demonstrators through the streets of Mitrovica city on Thursday as ethnic Albanians rioted near a base used by French soldiers.
German, French and British soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd which gathered in the predominantly ethnic Albanian section of Kosovska Mitrovica.
The industrial city has been rocked by unrest since Monday, when a 15-year-old ethnic Albanian was killed in a grenade attack.
Several people have been injured, hospital officials said.
The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
The move to clear the area near the French base came after scuffles broke out in another part of the city earlier in the day.
In that incident, demonstrators had targeted French soldiers guarding a small bridge spanning the Ibar River, which separates the city into an ethnic Albanian southern part and a predominantly Serb northern section.
French soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades to break up the melee.
Many ethnic Albanians in Kosovo distrust the French peacekeepers because they believe they are pro-Serb.
British and Italian K-FOR troops moved in to help back up the French troops.
U-S Police officers in the town also got involved trying to separate the ethnic-Albanians from the French troops.
On Wednesday, demonstrators throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails injured 20 peacekeepers.
Most, if not all of the wounded soldiers, appeared to be French.
Kosovska Mitrovica remains the province's most tense town, more than one-and-a-half years after NATO ended its 78-day air war.
The air campaign was launched to force former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to halt his crackdown on ethnic Albanians.
It remains a province of Serbia, the larger of Yugoslavia's two republics.
This week's riots in the city 25 miles (40 kilometres) from the capital, Pristina, come nearly a year after massive clashes rocked the city.
A dozen people were killed then and many others were injured.
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