[dplax]

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- At least two international police officers were killed and several wounded in a shootout Saturday in a prison in northern Kosovo, a U.N. spokesman said. Neeraj Singh, a spokesman for the U.N. police, confirmed the deaths but would not disclose their nationalities. A Serb doctor said an American woman was among the deaths. Four Jordanian police officers were arrested in connection with the incident, a NATO source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press. Serb and international sources in Kosovska Mitrovica told The Associated Press that the U.N. police officers started shooting at each other and that the shootout lasted for about 10 minutes. The information could not be immediately confirmed. Milan Ivanovic, a doctor in the hospital in the city's Serb-held part, told The Associated Press that an American woman officer died of her injuries. Several other police officers were being operating on. Other Americans were among the injured, he said. "Their wounds are predominantly in the chest and abdomen," Ivanovic said. "They were caused by firearms and possibly explosive devices." Some 3,500 U.N. police officers are currently serving in Kosovo alongside a 6,000 strong local force. It was not immediately clear what caused the shootout near the prison in tense Kosovska Mitrovica, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) 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 U.N. 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.

What now? UN police killing each other? Don't they have enough problems in Kosovo without that?

[ 04-17-2004, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: dplax ]