British soldiers guard Kosovo-Serbia border amid as situation remains tense

As part of a NATO peacekeeping mission being reinforced, British troops are patrolling the Kosovo-Serbia border out of worry that the former adversaries could resume hostilities after a string of violent incidents in recent months. Following a struggle between the government and armed Serbs holed up in a monastery on September 24, which converted a peaceful town in northern Kosovo into a war zone, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation dispatched hundreds of additional forces to Kosovo from Britain and Romania. Seen as the bloodiest violence since Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, three gunmen and one police officer were slain in the town of Banjska. Kosovo accused Serbia of providing financial and practical support for the gunmen, which Belgrade denies. NATO has sent 1,000 extra troops to the region, bringing its presence there to 4,500 peacekeepers from 27 countries. British soldiers are now being deployed in 18-hour shifts in freezing conditions to make sure no weapons or armed groups enter Kosovo. As he made his way across the western Balkans on Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the alliance is assessing the necessity for a more sustained troop build-up “to ensure that this doesn’t spiral out of control and creates a new violent conflict in Kosovo or in the wider region.” With a majority of ethnic Albanians, Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008 following a NATO operation in 1999 and a guerrilla revolt. Ethnic Serbs make up about five percent of the population of Kosovo; the majority reside in the north, rejecting Kosovo’s independence, and regard Belgrade as their capital. They have frequently battled with UN peacekeepers and the Kosovo police. Many ethnic Serbs have been utilising their own system—which Pristina views as illegal—instead of registering their cars with Kosovo licence plates for over 20 years. The administration of Prime Minister Albin Kurti has given about 10,000 drivers until December 1st to register their vehicles with Kosovo licence plates or risk paying steep fines. Last year, a similar plea led to bloodshed. (With agency inputs)