FIVE IPTF POLICEMEN INJURED IN FOCA RIOT

SARAJEVO, Jan 10 (Hina) - Five policemen were injured in Saturday evening's attack of Bosnian Serbs at a police station of the International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Foca, eastern Bosnia, but none of the injured were in the critical condition, UN spokeswoman Frederike Seidel said in Sarajevo on Sunday. One policeman from India is still in a state of shock, other policemen sustained light injuries, although two of them needed medical help, Seidel told a news conference. Policemen from Portugal, Spain, the United States and Germany were hurt in the incident. A mob of about 100 local Serbs surrounded and later completely destroyed the IPTF station in Foca in retaliation for the killing of Dragan Gagovic who died in Saturday's operation conducted by Stabilisation Force (SFOR) French troops in an attempt to arrest this Bosnian Serb, indicted by the Hague Tribunal of war crimes. The UN spokeswoman confirmed that at the moment when Gagovic was shot dead, his children were with him in the car. The children sustained no injuries, and the IPTF brought them back to their family in Foca as soon as violence erupted. SFOR soldiers evacuated all IPTF members from the Foca station to the SFOR base in the village of Filipovici. According to Seidel, the IPTF command is currently estimating damage done to their facility in Foca and will ensure the return of international policemen to that eastern Bosnian town as soon as circumstances allow it. In the meantime the interior minister of the Bosnian Serb entity pledged to launch a thorough investigation to find out and punish perpetrators who assaulted unarmed international policemen. (hina) ms