http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/kfor/ en-us Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:41:22 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1987217/posts KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (AFP) - UN police were forced to withdraw Monday from the Serb-populated part of this flashpoint Kosovo town after coming under attack as they stormed a court occupied by Serbs opposed to independence. Police said more than 100 people were injured as the troops met gunfire and suspected grenade blasts in the worst violence to have flared in Kosovo since its independence declaration a month ago on February 17. The clashes erupted after UN police and NATO-led KFOR (Kosovo Force) troops surrounded the courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica for a pre-dawn raid to evict the Serb protestors. Kosovo police... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1987217/posts#comment Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:41:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973619/posts CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Feb. 20, 2008 – NATO will continue its mission in the newly independent republic of Kosovo, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. The United States has a National Guard brigade deployed in the country now, and its mission will not change, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a news conference here. NATO put together its Kosovo Force at the end of a 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 to stop Serbs from driving ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo. NATO forces entered the Serbian province... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973619/posts#comment Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:23:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1972482/posts Leaders of about 400 members of the Minnesota National Guard who have been deployed to Kosovo as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force describe the atmosphere there as "energized, well-mannered and tense" after the former Yugoslavian province declared independence on Sunday. "The next few days are likely to be tense for Kosovo as the new country awaits international recognition," said Lt. Col. Michael Funk, commander of 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, a Mankato-based unit. Minnesota troops are largely stationed in a southeastern portion of Kosovo, where independence demonstrations were described as peaceful and limited to some sporadic celebratory gunfire. But... StarTribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1972482/posts#comment Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:40:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1972033/posts Another Failed State? Kosovo's declaration of independence isn't likely to solve its many problems—or defuse tensions in the troubled Balkans. Kosovo declared independence Sunday, but it's unlikely any time soon to become the world's 193rd country. What it will almost certainly be is a failed state, unrecognized by the United Nations, unable to govern itself, dependent on Europe for its police and NATO for its armed forces. After eight years as an international protectorate and billions of dollars in aid and reconstruction funds, its economic prospects are grim. Unemployment is 57 percent, and among youths it's more like 70 percent;... Newsweek http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1972033/posts#comment Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:45:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1920615/posts BELGRADE -- KFOR has thwarted a fake Serbian Army (VS) attack on Kosovo following a VS tip-off, says Lt. Gen. Mladen Ćirković. “We give KFOR information, they check it. That’s how recently, following one of our tip-offs, a number of Yugoslav army uniforms were confiscated,” Ćirković told daily Politika. “According to our data, a paramilitary group was planning to stage a fake VS attack on Kosovo,” he said. The general said that operative evidence existed incidents were being planned around Bujanovac, PreÅ¡evo and on the border with Macedonia, and that the VS would not tolerate any provocations of violence in... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1920615/posts#comment Sat, 3 Nov 2007 23:19:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893676/posts Pristina - A United States soldier serving with a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo was killed in a traffic accident Sunday night, police sources in the province said. Two other US troops were injured in the crash, which occurred in Caglavica, a section of the capital Pristina, sources said. Neither official confirmation of the report nor any other details were immediately available. Peacekeepers of KFOR had been deployed in Kosovo since mid-1999, when NATO ousted Serbian security forces to end the repression of the majority Albanian population. earthtimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893676/posts#comment Sun, 9 Sep 2007 22:17:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737747/posts Are the cases of missing persons in Kosovo science fiction or consciously closed files? Unexpectedly for many Kosovo crisis observers, proliferation of terrorism and violence resulted with huge number of cases of missing and kidnapped civilians, mostly non-Albanians (especially Serbs): in the summer of 1998, spring 1999 and during 2000. Actually, last reported kidnappings occurred in 2004. Although such acts of terror were well known to local population and local authorities, eccentric doubts could be summarized with only one question: If victims were held in hidden prisons and if after some time they were executed, where are the bodies? Searches,... apisgroup http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737747/posts#comment Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:06:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1698880/posts Released : Sunday, September 10, 2006 8:48 AM ATHENS, Greece-One Swedish soldier was killed and another was slightly injured when they were hit by a car in northern Greece, authorities said Sunday. The dead man, 25, was run over by the car near the town of Kallithea in the Halkidiki peninsula, some 90 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, police said. The injured man also was hit by the car. The two soldiers, who were serving in the peacekeeping force in Kosovo, known as KFOR, were on holiday in the Halkidiki peninsula. Their names were not released. Calibre http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1698880/posts#comment Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:34:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1675239/posts Prague/Pristina- A Czech soldier serving in the Czech military contingent within KFOR international forces died at the Sajkovac base in Kosovo, southern Serbia, today, the Defence Ministry told CTK. The 34-year-old officer cadet of the military police was found dead by his colleague in the barracks this morning. The military informed the soldier's family immediately. The military police have started investigating the tragic event. "The preliminary examination has not proved that the death was caused by another person, but the investigation continues," Pavel Lipka, commander of the 9th Czech military contingent, told CTK by phone. Other members of the Czech... ceskenoviny.cz http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1675239/posts#comment Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:02:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1548922/posts CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO (Army News Service, Dec. 28, 2005) – Soldiers from KFOR 6B convoyed to a hilltop church overlooking the small town of Letnice/Letnica, Kosovo, Dec. 25 to deliver hand-made fleece blankets to residents there. “It’s important for me to celebrate Christmas here,” said 1st Lt. Melanie Meyer, liaison officer, Task Force Falcon. “This is my first Christmas away from my family in the states. I wanted to come out here today so I can still feel the same joy of giving during Christmas. Watching the faces of the kids getting really excited is great.” Several children dressed in... ARNEWS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1548922/posts#comment Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:16:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536708/posts CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO (Army News Service, Dec 8, 2005) – Families of U.S. troops in the Kosovo Force have donated clothing and school supplies to an elementary school in a small mountainside village. In the village of Ukzmajl, Kosovo, 600 Euro dollars, or $750 USD is the yearly budget allotted by the municipality for the Skenderbeu School. Aware of the scarcity of funding for the school, Kosovo Force Soldiers and their families decided to do something to help out. Eight soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Operations Company, 628th Military Intelligence Battalion, 28th Infantry Division from Harrisburg, Pa., visited the... ARNEWS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536708/posts#comment Thu, 8 Dec 2005 23:19:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464811/posts WASHINGTON, – While U.S. forces have been defending freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, another mission to protect local populations from brutality and oppression has been winding down in the Balkans. That mission holds important lessons for operations currently under way in Iraq, U.S. forces in Kosovo say. In 1999, 38,000 NATO forces were in Kosovo to establish and maintain a secure environment, enforce compliance with agreements that ended a campaign of ethnic cleansing by former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, and provide assistance to the U.N. Mission in Kosovo. Today, there are less than 18,000 multinational troops on the ground, of... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464811/posts#comment Wed, 17 Aug 2005 03:17:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464793/posts It's easy to spot the changes to Kosovo from the air -- all the U.N.-provided plastic tarpaulins that provided shelter in the years after the NATO intervention are gone. In their place are orange roofs covering homes that have been rebuilt. Roughly 1,700 American servicemembers -- almost all National Guardsmen -- are part of the 17,000-man Kosovo Force helping provide the environment the province needs to recover. Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly over Kosovo in support of a troop visit by Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and USO celebrities on Aug. 15.... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464793/posts#comment Wed, 17 Aug 2005 02:31:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1404647/posts GEORGE ROBERTSON, who as Defence Secretary co-ordinated the 1999 Kosovo bombing campaign, is to return to the Balkans as peacemaker between Serbs and Albanians. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen is to become chief negotiator between Belgrade and Pristina over the future of Kosovo, which wants to become independent after six years of NATO military presence. Its ambition is backed by Albania, but bitterly opposed by the Serbs. The United Nations, which has run Kosovo since the end of the bombing campaign, will today announce that Lord Robertson has agreed to come out of semi-retirement to conduct the crucial negotiations. Since... Scotsman.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1404647/posts#comment Tue, 17 May 2005 06:43:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1385954/posts Mon 18 Apr 2005 3:54pm (UK) UN Discovers Human Remains in Kosovo Cave "PA" The United Nations in Kosovo said today they had discovered a cave allegedly used to secretly dispose of the human remains of non-Albanians in Kosovo killed during a war in 1998-1999. Initial findings indicated the area “was used to secretly dispose of human remains, and could be related to the disappearances” of non-Albanians in Kosovo in 1998, the UN statement said. The UN-run Office on Missing Persons and Forensics began excavating the cave and its surrounding area in Klina, some 30 miles west of the province’s... scotsman.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1385954/posts#comment Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:22:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1358171/posts FIVE hundred British troops were last night rushed to Kosovo amid fears of a new explosion in ethnic violence. The men from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets have been deployed after an urgent request from NATO. Commanders of the force in Kosovo want to make a show of strength as tensions rise. The Green Jackets will patrol the capital Pristina to keep ethnic Albanians and Serbs apart. This time last year 31 died and 500 were wounded in violence. The Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1358171/posts#comment Tue, 8 Mar 2005 03:35:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1348466/posts Investigation: Kosovo’s Wild WestVigilante law reigns in a part of Kosovo where justice doesn’t quite reach.Ramiz Muriqi, a tall man in his fifties, looks scared and isolated in his flat in Peja, about 80 kilometres west of Kosovo’s capital Pristina.“I’m tired of watching my back all the time, worrying that I’m next in line to be shot,” said Muriqi, with two cell phones, an automatic pistol and two spare magazines hanging from his belt.Peja - known to Serbs as Pec - is a large town in the Dukagjini plain of western Kosovo. In this region, law and order has broken... Institute for War and Peace Reporting http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1348466/posts#comment Tue, 22 Feb 2005 10:54:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309646/posts Remember Kosovo? By Cliff Kincaid | December 28, 2004 Clinton's policy was not to bomb those terrorists but to support them and bomb the Christian Serbs. AIM put together a list of the most underreported or buried stories of 2004, and one of them was the resurgence of anti-Serb, anti-Christian violence in Kosovo. Dozens were killed and more Christian churches were destroyed there. Kosovo got some attention near the end of the year when newspapers covered the fact that a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the KLA, became prime minister in a new Kosovo-based government. A story in... aim.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309646/posts#comment Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:41:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1304671/posts U.N.-APPROVED TERRORIST TO RUN KOSOVO by Srdja Trifkovic Imagine a "multi-ethnic" Palestine, administered by the United Nations, in which a Hamas leader notorious for terrorist attacks on Jewish civilians is certified as the Authority's "democratically" elected chief executive. Imagine Abu Musab al-Zarqawi being approved by a future UN governor as Iraq's prime minister. Imagine that in Kosovo a KLA murderer . . . but then in Kosovo you don't have to imagine anything. On December 3 the provincial parliament in Pristina voted to elect Ramush Haradinaj as prime minister. This 36-year-old former commander of the "Kosovo Liberation Army" has been... Chronicles Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1304671/posts#comment Sun, 19 Dec 2004 20:41:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1297885/posts The Serbian Orthodox Church has filed a lawsuit against the UK, France, Germany and Italy for allegedly failing to protect its churches in Kosovo. Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren, who lodged the complaint, told Serbian media that the four nations had allowed ethnic Albanians to ransack churches. The state-run Politika paper quotes him saying dozens of Orthodox churches and religious monuments had been destroyed. Nato-led troops took control of mainly-Muslim Kosovo in June 1999. The international community forced Serb troops and authorities out of the province amid escalating violence against separatist ethnic Albanian rebels. Mob attacks Clashes have continued... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1297885/posts#comment Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:50:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1276752/posts REGION GNJILANE CRIMINAL INCIDENTS EXPLOSION Ferizaj 09/11 - 1850 hrs. A suspicious vehicle carrying explosive materials crashed into a supermarket, the car exploded and caused damages. The vehicle was without a driver. One KFOR male and two local males sustained non life threatening injuries. Police secured the scene and KFOR EOD team was informed. UNMIK Police (Kosovo) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1276752/posts#comment Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:50:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1258173/posts British-led peacekeepers found more illegal arms in Kosovo on Sunday after last week´s discovery of four bunkers full of weapons, a British officer said. Sunday´s search, during an ongoing sweep across central Kosovo, was not on the scale of Friday and Saturday´s discoveries, but the finding of mortar tubes, mortar bombs and quantities of ammunition was enough to encourage the troops to extend the operation until Monday night at least. "We´re on a roll," declared Brigadier Richard Shirreff, commanding officer of the British troops in Kosovo, who are backed up in the search by Finnish, Norwegian and Czech units. The... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1258173/posts#comment Wed, 27 Oct 2004 02:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1250471/posts PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AFP) Oct 19, 2004 A British soldier has been killed in a car crash in the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo, the NATO-led peacekeeping force (KFOR) said Tuesday. "The fatal road incident occurred early on Tuesday some 20 to 30 minutes after midnight (around 2230 GMT Monday). Three other British soldiers were injured in the same accident," KFOR spokesman Colonel Yves Kermorvant said. Police said a British military vehicle rolled off the road near the central town of Glogovac. Kermorvant said 115 soldiers had lost their lives, mostly in accidents, since KFOR was deployed in Kosovo in 1999. SpaceWar http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1250471/posts#comment Wed, 20 Oct 2004 01:16:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1240458/posts Visiting areas where Serbs have returned to Kosovo, the senior United Nations envoy to the troubled province today observed minority populations facing an uphill climb on the road to integration. Søren Jessen-Petersen expressed dissatisfaction at the situation in Bica, where Kosovo Serb villagers are protected by barbed wire barricades and the 24-hour presence of peacekeeping troops. He pledged to work with the local community and municipal authorities to find more sustainable solutions to the current problems. “In Kosovo in October 2004, a Kosovo that is determined to move towards review of standards and status talks, there should and must be... UN News Centre http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1240458/posts#comment Sun, 10 Oct 2004 01:08:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1236958/posts STANOVC, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Hundreds of French troops parachuted into Kosovo on Wednesday in the first major operational drop by the French military since intervention in Zaire in 1978. The mid-morning calm in open meadows north of the U.N.-governed province's capital, Pristina, was shattered by the thunder of seven Transall C-160 planes arriving at the end of a five-hour flight from bases in France. Arching low over cornfields, they emptied their human cargo, filling the skies with the dirty-white canopies of 361 French paratroopers, each with combat rifle and 50 kg of equipment strapped to his... Reuters AlertNet http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1236958/posts#comment Wed, 6 Oct 2004 17:08:38 GMT