US peacekeeper injured in Kosovo assault

Agence France Presse, Fri Oct 20, 9:29 AM ET

PRISTINA, Serbia (AFP) - A US soldier from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) was assaulted and injured by three civilians in the east of the province, the US military said.

The incident took place in the parking lot of a filling station in the town of Urosevac.

"The three males fled the area before they could be apprehended," the US military said in a statement.

"We will do whatever is necessary to find the men responsible for this assault," said US Colonel William Smith, the deputy commander of KFOR in eastern Kosovo.

About 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers are responsible for peace and security in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo came under the control of the United Nations and North Altantic Treaty Organisation in June 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces over a crackdown on separatist Albanian guerillas.