KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo - NATO peacekeepers closed off roads between Serbia and northern Kosovo and armed UN policemen guarded smoldering border checkpoints, bracing Wednesday for more protests by Serbs incensed by KosovoÂ’s declaration of independence.
For three days, KosovoÂ’s Serbs have shown their anger over SundayÂ’s declaration by destroying UN and NATO property, setting off small bombs and staging noisy rallies. In Jarnije and Brnjak, protesters used plastic explosives and bulldozers to wreck border checkpoint posts and tipped over metal sheds housing UN customs service offices. They vandalized and torched passport control booths and UN border patrol vehicles.
Serbs planned more protests Wednesday to express their anger at the swift recognition of KosovoÂ’s independence by world powers including the United States, France _ and now Germany.
NATO troops sealed off the northern border, concerned that Serbian militants could cross over to fight in Kosovo. |