Kosovar special police units launched an operation between Monday and yesterday to take control of two disputed border crossings in Kosovo’s northern Serb-run border region, the Kosovar interior minister said.

The action follows last week’s ban by Kosovar authorities on goods coming in from Serbia, a decision made to counter Serbia’s ongoing rejection of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi said Kosovar authorities were forced to move after the European Union’s rule of law mission, known as Eulex, failed to enforce the ban.

He said some 40 policemen are in control of one checkpoint, while a second group is engaged in a tense stand-off with local Serbs blocking access to another border crossing.

Both crossings were set on fire by rioting Serbs on the eve of Kosovo’s secession and have since been loosely manned by the 3,000-strong EU mission.

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