The Jarinje border crossing post between Kosovo and Serbia was in flames on Wednesday evening after it was set on fire by a group of masked Serb youths, electronic media in Belgrade said.
Dozens of Serb youths came from the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica and asked those present to move away from the border crossing, after which they started demolishing the building and set it on fire, Serbian state television RTS said.
B92 said bursts of gunfire could be heard at the border crossing and that helicopters were flying over the area. Beta news agency said that US KFOR troops blocked the road to Kosovska Mitrovica at about 2000 hours.
Tanjug news agency said that there was "total chaos" at the Jarinje border crossing post at about 2000 hours, and that its TV crew had been attacked. It said that a Polish KFOR unit had withdrawn from the border crossing and that US troops were heading to Jarinje in a dozen vehicles.
Serbian President Boris Tadic called for an immediate end to the violence at Jarinje, saying that hooligans who caused the violence were not defending citizens or the State of Serbia.
Earlier in the day, news agencies reported that Kosovo's special police had withdrawn after completing their mission at the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings. Police spokesman Brahim Sadriu was quoted as saying that the special police had restored order and created conditions for the deployment of customs officers and border police.
Serbia has requested an urgent session of the UN Security Council to discuss the latest developments in Kosovo. An unnamed diplomat was quoted as saying that consultations would be held behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the situation in Kosovo.
