Kosovo clashes: NATO-led troops put up barbed wire boundaries after protests in northern twons

NATO-led peacekeeping troops have put up metallic fences and barbed wire boundaries in a northern city in Kosovo after clashes with ethnic Serbs left 30 worldwide troopers injured.

The boundaries have been erected after tons of of ethnic Serbs began gathering in entrance of town corridor in Zvecan, a northern Kosovo city 28 miles north of the capital Pristina.

NATO has decided to send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to assist quell violent protests after the clashes on Monday.

Violence initially broke out within the north of the nation over the weekend after ethnic Albanian mayors had been put in in Serbian-dominated areas.

They had been elected in a vote overwhelmingly boycotted by Serbs.

Some within the nation have since made repeated efforts to take over the places of work in Zvecan, the place the mayors took up their posts.

Kosovo police fired tear fuel to disperse Serbs who tried to dam officers from getting into municipal buildings within the city final week.

This has result in clashes with NATO-led troops that left 30 worldwide troopers injured.

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An announcement on Tuesday by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) stated 30 troopers – 11 Italians and 19 Hungarians – “sustained multiple injuries, including fractures and burns from improvised explosive incendiary devices”.

Three Hungarian troopers had been “wounded by the use of firearms,” however their accidents weren’t life-threatening, the assertion added.

Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vucic has stated 52 ethnic Serbs have been injured within the clashes.

Meanwhile, ethnic Serbs have insisted that each ethnic Albanian mayors and Kosovo police should go away northern Kosovo.

Serbia has put its navy on the best state of alert and despatched extra troops to the border with the nation.

A former province of Serbia, Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence will not be recognised by Belgrade.

Ethnic Albanians make up many of the inhabitants of Kosovo, however the nation has a restive Serbian minority within the north of the nation.

NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the violence in Kosovo, saying that “such attacks are unacceptable and must stop”.

He warned that NATO troops “will take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo”.

He urged each side to take steps to de-escalate, chorus from “further irresponsible behaviour” and to return to EU-backed talks on bettering relations.