Market explosion in Kosovo injures four

Reuters, 17 Nov 2005 13:49:08 GMT By Matthew Robinson

 

(Updates with injuries, details; adds byline)

 

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded under a truck at a busy market in Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo on Thursday, injuring three Serbs and one ethnic Albanian, police said.

 

The mid-morning blast hit the mainly Serb town of Strpce in the south of the majority Albanian province, run by the United Nations since the 1998-99 war but days away from U.N.-led negotiations on its future.

 

"One person is badly wounded but it is not life-threatening," police spokesman Agim Demiri told Reuters. A police source said it appeared a device had been placed under a truck owned by an ethnic Albanian man selling wood pannelling.

 

Located at the foot of Kosovo's mountainous border with Macedonia, the Strpce region has seen an increase in attacks, mainly on Serbs, as the province nears "status talks" that Albanians hope will end in independence.

 

Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombing forced out Serb forces accused of killing 10,000 ethnic Albanians civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

 

Kosovo Serbs, many living in isolated enclaves, have become the target of sporadic violence since the war, despite the presence of a 17,000-strong NATO-led peace force.

 

Serb leaders in Belgrade blame the latest attacks, including the drive-by killing of two Serbs near Strpce in August, on Albanian extremists pushing for independence by force.

 

U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari is expected to arrive in Kosovo on Monday, kicking off what could be months of shuttle diplomacy aimed at bringing the two sides closer to a deal.

 

Serbia opposes independence for land it considers the religious heartland of the Serb people. It is offering broad autonomy, but Albanians -- who account for 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people -- reject any return to Serb rule.

 

Analysts say sporadic bomb blasts and shootings in Kosovo, often targeting U.N. vehicles or facilities, are part of a campaign to warn the U.N. Security Council against delaying a decision on "final status" or compromising on independence.

 

Diplomats say Western powers will steer the talks towards a form of independence under continued international supervision, particularly over minority rights and security. (Additional reporting by Shaban Buza and Branislav Krstic)