Violence erupts again in divided Kosovo town

Two explosions and violent protests rocked the flashpoint town of Mitrovica late last Friday, destroying cars and damaging property in the latest bout of unrest triggered when a Serb teenager was hurt in a fight.

Six people were injured by one of the blasts. Police said yesterday that the first explosion destroyed seven cars near a cafe bar in the Serb dominated part of Mitrovica.

Angry Serbs then set two Albanian shops alight and, as fire fighters rushed to put out the blazes, a second explosive device detonated.

Police gave no details as to the cause of the explosions, the second of which occurred in Bosnjacka Mahala, an isolated, mainly ethnic Albanian community that sits on the Serb side of the divided city of Mitrovica.

NATO troops and the European Union police (EULEX) stepped up their presence and armoured vehicles were patrolling the area.

Ethnic tensions in Mitrovica remain high after a Serb teenager was hurt by two knife-wielding Albanian teenagers on December 30, which prompted hundreds of Serb protestors to burn down several Albanian shops and to damage cars with Kosovo licence plates. The two Albanian assailants were arrested.