NATO moves more troops to Kosovo to stem violence

PRISTINA, Kosovo – NATO deployed additional troops to Kosovo on Tuesday after peacekeepers were injured in clashes with Serb protesters.

In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Allied Force Command Naples said NATO was sending Operational Reserve Forces (ORF) to Kosovo.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo that 700 additional soldiers will be sent to northern Kosovo.

“We have decided to deploy 700 more troops from the operational reserve force for Western Balkans,” Stoltenberg told reporters after talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Tuesday.

He said 30 peacekeepers had been injured in clashes with Serb demonstrators.

In a statement, Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, commander of Allied Forces Command Naples, said the deployment will ensure that peacekeepers have the necessary capabilities to maintain security following the U.N. Security Council mandate.

The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbian rule following the genocide of Bosnian Muslims perpetrated by the Serbs.

Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown that killed some 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians.

NATO military intervention in 1999 eventually forced Serbia to withdraw from the area.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

Serbia refused to recognize its independence.

More than 90% of the population in Kosovo is ethnic Albanian.

 However, Serbs in the north of the country are calling for the creation of a federation of autonomous municipalities in their territory.