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U.N. Police Die in Kosovo Prison Shootout
International police with Kosovo's U.N. mission shot at each other Saturday in a prison compound, killing two Americans and a Jordanian officer, a U.N. statement said. Eleven others were wounded. The shooting occurred between officers from the police and correctional units in the tense northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians. Witnesses and international authorities told The Associated Press the exchange of fire lasted for about 10 minutes. It was not clear what touched off the incident, which did not involve prisoners. Four Jordanian police officers were arrested, a NATO source told AP. The body of a police officer, covered with what looked like a dark blue jacket, lay for hours in the yard of the prison compound. One witness, a 50-year-old woman who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she heard the shooting, ran to her balcony overlooking the prison yard and saw one officer shooting and another hiding. Another witness said he was at a nearby park when he heard the shooting and American officers yelling, "Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" "It is absolutely too early to draw any conclusions with regard to what happened there," the head of the U.N. police, Stefan Feller, told Associated Press Television News after visiting the site. He called the shootout a "terrible incident." Milan Ivanovic, a doctor at the hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica, told AP that five American officers and one Austrian officer were being treated. "Their wounds are predominantly in the chest and abdomen," Ivanovic said. "They were caused by firearms and possibly explosive devices." Kosovska Mitrovica has long been the scene of violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, including riots that broke out a month ago, killing 19 and injuring 900. Ethnic Albanians live on the southern side of the Ibar River in the divided city, and Serbs live in the north. Kosovska Mitrovica is located 25 miles from the provincial capital, Pristina. Kosovo became a U.N. protectorate in 1999, after NATO launched a 78-day air war to stop Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic from cracking down on ethnic Albanians seeking independence. There are some 3,500 U.N. police officers serving in Kosovo alongside a 6,000-strong local force. The top U.N. official in Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, seemed stunned at the shooting incident, which came as the mission is still grappling with last month's violence. "I am deeply shocked and dismayed at the unfortunate death of dedicated professionals who have come such a great distance to help Kosovo on its road to future," he said. Posted by: Fred 2004-04-17 |
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