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By Fatos Bytyci
JARINJE, Kosovo (Reuters) – British troops are patrolling the Kosovo-Serbia border as a part of a NATO peacekeeping presence being bolstered amid concern that the previous wartime foes might return to open battle following a sequence of violent incidents in latest months.
The North Atlantic Treaty Group despatched a whole lot of further forces to Kosovo from Britain and Romania after a battle between the authorities and armed Serbs holed up in a monastery turned a quiet village in northern Kosovo right into a struggle zone on Sept. 24.
One police officer and three gunmen had been killed within the village of Banjska in what was seen because the worst violence since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Kosovo accused Serbia of offering monetary and sensible help for the gunmen, which Belgrade denies.
NATO has despatched 1,000 further troops to the area, bringing its presence there to 4,500 peacekeepers from 27 nations.
British troopers at the moment are being deployed in 18-hour shifts in freezing circumstances to verify no weapons or armed teams enter Kosovo.
“At the moment we’re right here on a routine patrol, which consists of understanding patterns of life, gaining intelligence on any unlawful or suspicious exercise that then will get fed again to KFOR (NATO mission) and better,” Lieutenant Joss Gaddie from the British Military advised Reuters on the border with Serbia.
Throughout a go to on Monday to the western Balkans, NATO Secretary-Common Jens Stoltenberg mentioned the group is reviewing whether or not a extra everlasting enhance of forces was wanted “to make sure that this does not spiral uncontrolled and creates a brand new violent battle in Kosovo or within the wider area.”
Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla rebellion and a 1999 NATO intervention.
Round 5 % of the inhabitants in Kosovo are ethnic Serbs, of which half dwell within the north and refuse to acknowledge Kosovo independence and see Belgrade as their capital. They’ve typically clashed with Kosovo police and worldwide peacekeepers.
For greater than twenty years many ethnic Serbs have refused to register automobiles with Kosovo automobile plates, utilizing their very own system as an alternative which is seen as unlawful by Pristina.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s authorities has set a December 1 deadline for round 10,000 motorists to register their vehicles with Kosovo numbers or face heavy penalties. The same request sparked violence final 12 months.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Enhancing by Mike Harrison)
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