DUE ORE DI SPARATORIA TRA SOLDATI ITALIANI E TERRORISTI IN KOSOVO

E' successo il 29 agosto, quando i soldati delle truppe italiane della
KFOR sono dovuti intervenire per bloccare una aggressione in atto, da
parte di terroristi pan-albanesi, contro quattro contadini serbi
disarmati che erano al lavoro nei campi presso Gorazdevac, a 55
chilometri da Pristina.
I soldati italiani sono stati allora bersagliati dai terroristi per ben
due ore, in uno dei peggiori episodi di violenza in cui siano state
coinvolte le truppe di occupazione occidentali sin dal loro arrivo nella
provincia serba, nel giugno 1999. Fortunosamente lo scontro non ha
causato vittime, ed un solo terrorista e' stato fermato.
Non ci risulta che alcun media italiano abbia riportato la notizia. Lo
stesso sito dei dispacci ANSA sul Kosovo risulta non aggiornato proprio
dal 29 agosto, come se i giornalisti o i loro datori di lavoro siano
rimasti sotto shock per l'accaduto.

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+++ UCK GREIFT SERBISCHEN KONVOI AN
GORAZDEVAC. Vorgestern griffen albanische UCK-Terroristen beim
metochischen Gorazdevac einen Konvoi der serbischen Zivilisten
an, der von der "internationalen Polizei" UNMIK geleitet wurde.
Mehr als zwei Stunden dauerte das Gefecht zwischen den
Terroristen und den italienischen Peacekeepers. STIMME KOSOVOS
+++ (http://www.amselfeld.com - 31. August 2002)

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http://www.serbianna.com/news/09_02/06.shtml

Ethnic Albanians Fire on Peacekeepers

By GARENTINA KRAJA
The Associated Press
August 30, 2002

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - NATO peacekeepers and
ethnic Albanian gunmen traded gunfire for two hours
Thursday, after the troops were called in to protect
Serb farmers, officials said.
The fighting was some of the heaviest involving
peacekeepers since they arrived three years ago. But
there were no reports of any casualties, and one
ethnic Albanian was detained.
The Italian peacekeepers were called in after shots
were fired at four Serbs working their land under the
protection of U.N. forces and local police, United
Nations spokesman Andrea Angeli said. They came under
fire as they arrived in the village of Gorazdevac,
some 55 miles west of the provincial capital Pristina,
Angeli said.
Two military helicopters helped fight off the
attackers during the clash, which ended with one
suspect being detained, a NATO official said on
condition of anonymity.
The official did not specify how many peacekeepers and
U.N. police were involved, but said special forces
were called in after the regular peacekeeping
contingent responsible for the area asked for help.
The detained suspect was an ethnic Albanian, Angeli
said.
The firefight came as the U.N. administration has
increased efforts to repatriate Serbs who fled Kosovo
because of ethnic violence.
It was the first time peacekeepers guarding the Serb
minority were shot at since arriving after troops
loyal to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
left in 1999.
Serbs have been targeted by ethnic Albanian extremists
seeking revenge for the crackdown under Milosevic that
left thousands dead, and dozens of Serbs have been
killed over the past three years. Tens of thousands
have fled.

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http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2002/08/4-SEE/see-300802.asp

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 1, 2002

GUNMEN PIN DOWN PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVA [RFE/RL's
preferred spelling]

UN civilian administration (UNMIK) police spokesman
Barry Fletcher told Reuters in Prishtina on 29 August
that unidentified gunmen shot at Serbian woodcutters
in the Peja district and "police responded with three
vehicles and a total of eight officers. When they
arrived, they were fired upon and they had to take
cover." Fletcher added that the police "were being
fired at from at least three different places, and
people who were shooting were too far away for the
range of pistols. [The police] couldn't move because
of the shooting." The police then called for KFOR
troops to come to the scene. "But the KFOR troops were
also fired at, and both UNMIK police and KFOR were
trapped for at least two hours." Italian peacekeepers
then brought up reinforcements and military vehicles,
which prompted the gunmen to flee. Italian military
police detained one suspect who refused to speak.
UNMIK spokeswoman Andrea Angeli said nonetheless that
he is an ethnic Albanian. AP described the attack as
one of the worst cases of violence since NATO troops
entered Kosova in June 1999. PM