Protesting Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected new barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia said it had put its army on the highest combat alert following weeks of escalating tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbia's defence ministry said in a statement late on Monday that in response to the latest events in the region and its belief that Kosovo was preparing to attack Serbs and forcefully remove the barricades, President Aleksandar Vucic had ordered Serbia's army and police to be put on the highest alert.
Around 50,000 Serbs live in the northern part of Albanian-majority Kosovo and refuse to recognise the Pristina government or the state. They see Belgrade as their capital and are backed by Serbia, from which Kosovo declared independence in 2008. It added police had the capacity and readiness to act but were waiting for NATO's KFOR Kosovo peace-keeping force, which maintains a neutral role, to respond to their request to remove the barricades.
In Mitrovica on Tuesday morning trucks were parked to block the road linking the Serb-majority part of the town with the Albanian-majority part.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Serbia places its troops on Kosovo border on combat alertPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Serbia on Monday placed its security troops on the border with Kosovo on “the full state of combat readiness,' ignoring NATO's calls for calming down of tensions between the two wartime Balkan foes.
Read more »
NATO probing shooting incident in tense Kosovo northNATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo said Monday they were investigating a shooting incident in a tense northern region, urging calm as Serbia’s top military officials inspected their troops on the border with Kosovo in a show of combat readiness.
Read more »
Dozens poisoned by ammonia leak after train derails in SerbiaAt least 51 people are poisoned after a train derailed in southeastern Serbia, releasing ammonia into the air
Read more »
Serbian army ordered for combat readiness: defence ministerKosovo broke from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has not recognised the move and sees its former province as part of its territory.
Read more »
GOP civil war tensions mount as Republican senators attack Mitch McConnellSeveral lawmakers have taken aim at the Senate minority leader after he was one of 18 GOP senators to vote in favor of the omnibus package.
Read more »