PRISTINA, June 23 (Hina) - One child was killed in the blast of a land mine in Djakovica, while one person died and two sustained serious injuries in the explosion of a land mine in Shtimlje, NATO and UNHCR officials said in Pristina
on Tuesday. A spokesman for the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), Robin Cliford, said it was still impossible to determine the exact number of sites and all sites where mines and booby-traps were planted adding that it would take long time to remove them. Cliford said all parties in the ended conflict were responsible for this problem. A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Paola Gedini, said it was likely that some of houses where refugees were coming back were mined and it posed a threat to their security. According to Gedini, 18,000 ethnic Albanians returned to Kosovo from Albania, 17,000 from Macedonia and only 800 from Montenegro in the last 24 hour
PRISTINA, June 23 (Hina) - One child was killed in the blast of a
land mine in Djakovica, while one person died and two sustained
serious injuries in the explosion of a land mine in Shtimlje, NATO
and UNHCR officials said in Pristina on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), Robin Cliford,
said it was still impossible to determine the exact number of sites
and all sites where mines and booby-traps were planted adding that
it would take long time to remove them. Cliford said all parties in
the ended conflict were responsible for this problem.
A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
Paola Gedini, said it was likely that some of houses where refugees
were coming back were mined and it posed a threat to their
security.
According to Gedini, 18,000 ethnic Albanians returned to Kosovo
from Albania, 17,000 from Macedonia and only 800 from Montenegro in
the last 24 hours. She voiced concern at problems between the
Yugoslav Army and Albanian refugees in Montenegro.
Gedini added that an estimated 170,000 refugees had so far returned
to Kosovo.
According to some information which KFOR did not confirm, the
situation in the town of Mitrovica is very tense. Serb citizens have
allegedly blocked one part of the town near a bridge across the Ibar
River. At the other side of the bridge are gathered Albanians,
whereas French KFOR troops have been stationed between them. There
are no fresh reports on any serious incident in the meantime.
Dignitaries of the Pec-based Orthodox patriarchate on Tuesday
asked KFOR to protect them, while 130 Serbs from the village of
Grace near Vucitrn demanded the KFOR escort until they reach the
boundary with Serbia.
(hina) ms