Italian troops' gun celebration damages Kosovo Serb homes
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 5, 2006, Wednesday

Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Pristina, 5 July: Italian Kfor [NATO-led Kosovo Force] members caused an unintentional incident last night in the village of Grabac [near Klina in central Kosovo], when they fired a number of rounds from automatic weapons and hand-held mortars celebrating the victory of their football team over Germany [in the World Cup], Kfor spokesman Klaus Treude said today in Pristina.

"The celebration disturbed the locals, who are returnees to the village of Grabac, and Kfor command has ordered an investigation to be conducted," Treude said at a press conference.

The representative of the Serb community in the Klina municipality, Tatjana Tosic confirmed that last night's gunfire celebration resulted in cracked roofs and damaged roof tiles in the village.

"Locals retreated into their homes because of the gunfire and the situation calmed down only after the arrival of a Kfor patrol and the Kosovo Police Service [KPS] in Grabac," Tosic said.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1148 gmt 5 Jul 06

Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
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