KOSOVO: MITROVICA: CLASHES SITUATION UPDATE (V)

Описание: (6 Feb 2000) Voice and effects
VOICED BY: Richard Vaughan

Tensions are running high in Mitrovica, as NATO-led peacekeepers struggle to restore order in Kosovo's most multi-ethnic and troubled city.

French peacekeepers clashed with ethnic Albanians for a second straight day on Saturday, forcing back hundreds who tried to push their way across a bridge to the Serb-controlled north side of the city.

The death toll from four days of ethnically motivated violence in Mitrovica has now risen to ten.

VOICE-OVER:

0003 Tensions in Mitrovica have escalated sharply after a rocket attack on a U-N bus taking Serbs through ethnic Albanian areas of Kosovo.

0010 Two Albanian men were shot dead on Thursday night here in the Serb-controlled part of the city.

0016 Shortly afterwards, grenades were hurled at two Serb cafes, injuring up to 25 people.

0021 Eight others have been killed in a series of clashes and shootings which have swept the city.

0027 About nine-thousand Serbs control the north bank of Mitrovica, with 90-thousand Albanians living on the south bank.

0033 Despite the presence of NATO peacekeepers, violence is still common.

0037 The leader of the Serb community here says tensions are running high.

0042 SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I suppose in this moment we can say we are controlling the situation and we have no problem in the streets, but we are not completely safe and we expect some trouble in the next few days."
SUPER CAPTION: Oliver Ivanovic, Serb community leader

0055 Albanians accuse French troops of failing to protect those living in the Serb-controlled part of the city.

0101 Doctors say an Albanian boy suffered a gunshot wound, possibly from a sniper on the Serb side of the river.

0106 But the boy's father claims his son was shot by French troops during a protest..

0111 French peacekeepers say the shooting is being investigated, although they says troops weren't carrying guns.

0117 But this man's allegations could strain an already tense situation.

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