Many injured in Zvecan clashes, one Serb shot and wounded with AK-47

ZVECAN - Many people were injured in Monday's clashes between Kfor troops and Serb protesters in Zvecan, a Serb-majority municipality in northern Kosovo-Metohija, a Tanjug reporter on the ground said.

One of the protesters was shot and wounded with an AK-47 rifle and subsequently hospitalised with an exit wound.

The injured were hospitalised at the local health centre, while those with more serious wounds were transported to the Kosovska Mitrovica hospital.

The clashes erupted after Kfor used force to disperse the protesters, who were sitting peacefully outside the Zvecan municipal building.

After the 200-300 Serbs rejected an ultimatum to move away from Pristina's police vehicles they had surrounded, Kfor attacked the protesters, using batons, tear gas and stun grenades.

The Serbs responded by throwing bottles and stones, injuring several Kfor soldiers, some of whom left behind pieces of their riot gear.

As of 6 pm, the situation in Zvecan was relatively calm but a large number of residents - possibly up to one thousand - remained in the streets as a cordon of Kfor troops stood outside the municipal building.