As the civilian population continues to be terrorized by Serbian thugs in the northern town of Mitrovica in Kosovo, the KFOR Northwestern Sector and the EULEX Police ran away from the scene.

 

In the night between Friday and Saturday at least 100 Serb thugs armed with automatic guns and explosives begun terrorizing the local Albanian populace in the northern town of Mitrovica, burning several Albanian-owned shops in Lagja e Boshnjakeve section of town and shooting at homes.

The Albanian local residents and two British civilians who witnessed the horror said that "sometime after midnight on Friday, a crowd of heavy armed Serbian thugs began shooting towards the Albanian houses and burning several Albanian owned shops."

The EULEX Police and KFOR which initially ran away during the horror according to the local witnesses and victims, neglecting to prevent the incident, even though, they were less than a quarter mile away, arrived on scene late, after Kosovo and international media reported on the event.

The police reported that there were shootings and many explosive grenades thrown onto Albanian houses and shops. Six Serb firefighters were wounded by their ethnic kin when they showed up to put out the fire.  
The police have received information that a group of Serb thugs have burned down two Albanian shops near the Technical Lyceum in the northern town of Mitrovica. The owner of the shop that was burned by Serbs, Gyner Rexhepi, witnessed the horror. He said, "No KFOR or police showed up or even attempted to prevent the damage, even though they are located less than a block away."

The local population point that no one from the law enforcement or security had intervened to calm the situation in this part of town. According to them, KFOR Northwestern Sector and EULEX police did not even show up when the situation escalated.

"Had the Albanians done this to Serbs, Ban Ki-Moon and company would have been giving speeches at the UN today, while in this case, we are in the mercy of God, no one cares about our lives," said one local resident in Mitrovica.

The local Albanian residents in the north are discouraged by the negligence of KFOR, EULEX Police, and local municipal authorities.

The burning of their shops, houses and wounding of several Albanians in the last week is seen as pressure to ethnically cleanse the Albanian inhabitans in this section of the town.

"This is pressure to force us flee our homes. I had contacts with several Serbs who represent the Serbian government, asking me to sell my property to them. They begged me to sell it, but I have refused. So, by burning them down, they hope we will sell them now. But, we will not, we will stay here," said one local resident.

Another witness on the scene, a British civilian who witnessed the horror said, "There is an obvious negligence from the French and other multinational KFOR taskforce to prevent tension, even though they were a few yards away. They seem to hurry up to close the bridge and open only when the ethnic cleansing of local Albanian populace occurs by the Serbian thugs while never attempting to help them out to return or at least offer them minimal security to rebuild their homes."

"Both KFOR and UNMIK, now EULEX, have failed the people in northern Mitrovica," added the British civilian who demanded to remain anonymous for security reasons.