Situation in Kosovo still unstable, Serbs still in fear

An anti-tank mine explosion in Kosovo killed one person and critically wounded another, the latest in an alarming number of deaths by mines in the province, a NATO spokesman said today.

UNHCR representative Ron Redmond said today that two Serbs had been kidnapped in Pristina. He said that they are refugees, one from Bosnia, the other from Srpska Krajina and that 5 people took them away from the hotel on Monday, dressed in black. Redmond added that the hotel in downtown Pristina is one of 130 shelters for Serbs from Krajina on Kosovo. He informed KFOR on the kidnapping.

German troops' spokesman said that at least 30 houses, including Albanian houses that caught fire from the Serbian houses set ablaze, were burnt down since Thursday, when a new wave of destruction begun. The German troops are lacking fire-fighting equipment. German troops are guarding two local offices and Serbian Church Sveti Djorjde since yesterday.

A group of nonuniformed men attacked high ranking Socialist Party official Zivorad Igic and his wife in front of their apartment in Dardanija, part of Pristina. Igic claims the attackers were Albanians, and that they fled when KFOR appeared.

Information service of the Serbian Orthodox Church Pravoslavlje Press said that Albanians attacked the village of Ajvalija near Gracanica on Monday evening. They bombed the house of Josic family, and attacked the house of Momcilo Ilic. Ilic's 18-year-old son was wounded in the attack. As result, 30 Serbian families left the village. Pravoslavlje press also reports that a large number of Serbian monuments have been destroyed: cemetery in Gnjilane, Temple Hrista Spasa in Pristina (set ablaze), orthodox temple in Djakovica (information received from the Spanish troops).

Source: Free Serbia

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