International peacekeeping forces in Kosovo (KFOR) have closed a road near the border crossing of Jarinje on the Serbia-Kosovo border, using tear gas to remove barricades local Serbs put on the road recently, and arresting several Serb protesters.
The Belgrade media reported that the now closed road was the only road connecting Raska in the south of Serbia with northern Kosovo. NATO-led KFOR troops blocked several hamlets in the north of Kosovo using barbed wire. This morning, an incident occurred when local residents stoned KFOR troops, to which they responded by using tear gas.
The Serbian news agency Beta said US and German KFOR troops were removing barricades put by Serbs over the past week, and restricting access to the area. According to local residents, no one dared approach the barbed wire for fear of being arrested.
After they were detained in a KFOR base for several hours, the arrested protesters were released.
A spokesperson for the European rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Irina Gudeljevic, told the news agency Tanjug that this was a joint operation of KFOR and EULEX. EULEX supports KFOR's operation and believes that all barricades must be removed, said Gudeljevic.
The latest developments in Kosovo came after the Kosovo government on September 16 started an operation to deploy customs and police officers at the border crossings Jarinje and Brnjak in the north of Kosovo, on the border with Serbia.
Serbs living in the border area set barricades on roads, blocking them at several places in the northern municipalities of Leposavic, Zvecan, Kosovska Mitrovica and Zubin Potok and near the two border points, in protest against the establishment of the Kosovo customs and border police service on the border with Serbia.
