Nato-led peacekeepers strengthened patrols to prevent unrest at the funerals of two ethnic Albanian boys whose drowning deaths sparked major violence in Kosovo.

Nato peacekeepers and UN police regrouped throughout Kosovo today to put down rioting and violence that left eight dead and hundreds injured in one of the bloodiest days since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999.

At least six people were killed and dozens of others were wounded today, as Serbs and ethnic Albanians clashed in Kosovo following a drowning tragedy.