Kosovo Serbs torch border points

SERBS set off sporadic explosions and torched checkpoints between Serbia and Kosovo yesterday to protest Kosovo’s declaration of independence and international recognition of the state.

Two border crossings in northern Kosovo, staffed by UN and Kosovo’s multi-ethnic police and customs service, were set ablaze by Kosovo Serbs who want them removed as a symbol of their desire to rejoin Serbia. Protesters also tipped over metal sheds housing Kosovo’s customs service and sent them sliding down a hill and into a river.

Passport control booths were set ablaze after more than a thousand Kosovo Serbs marched to the Jarnije checkpoint about 29km north of Kosovska Mitrovica. Groups of Serbs also destroyed another border checkpoint in the nearby village of Brnja. In both cases, there was no intervention from NATO peacekeepers or Kosovo police.