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Three dead in UN police shootout
AT least three international police officers were killed and 11 wounded in a shootout today at a prison in northern Kosovo, a UN spokesman said.Two American policewomen and a Jordanian police officer were believed killed. A Serb doctor said five Americans and an Austrian officer were among the wounded. Neeraj Singh, a spokesman for the UN police, confirmed the deaths, but would not disclose the victimâs nationalities. He said police were investigating the incident. Four Jordanian police officers were arrested in connection with the incident, a NATO source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. Serb and international sources in Kosovska Mitrovica said the UN police officers started shooting at each other and that the shootout lasted for about 10 minutes. The information could not be immediately confirmed. Stefan Feller, the head of the UN police, told Associated Press Television News that a member of a Jordanian special police unit was killed, but he did not give the nationality of the other victims. "It is absolutely too early to draw any conclusions with regard to what happened there," Feller said minutes after visiting the prison shooting site. Milan Ivanovic, a doctor in the hospital in the cityâs Serb-held part, said five American officers and one Austrian officer were being treated at his hospital. It was not clear where the other wounded officers were being treated. "Their wounds are predominantly in the chest and abdomen," Ivanovic said. "They were caused by firearms and possibly explosive devices." The body of a police officer, covered with what looked like a jacket, lay for hours in the yard of the prison compound where the shooting occurred. Police officers sealed off the area with the yellow tape. About 3500 UN police officers are serving in Kosovo alongside a 6000 strong local force. It was not immediately clear what caused the shootout near the prison in tense Kosovska Mitrovica, located 40km from Pristina. The city was the scene of ethnic violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians a month ago and has long been a flashpoint for Serb-Albanian tensions. Kosovo became a UN protectorate in 1999, after NATO launched a 78-day air war to stop former President Slobodan Milosevic from cracking down on ethnic Albanians seeking independence. Posted by: tipper 2004-04-17 |
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