KFOR Troops Secure Mitrovica After Weapons Search Turns to Protest
GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: KFOR officials say peacekeepers have secured Mitrovica, in Kosovo, after a contentious day-long search for contraband arms. The search was marred by the kind of violence that has plagued the Yugoslav province recently. CNN's Chris Burns has a report.</s>CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rough reception for American troops on the first day of KFOR's major weapons sweep throughout Kosovo's divided, violent flashpoint, the northern city of Mitrovica. A Serb mob turned on them when the troops seized several guns on the northern side of the Ibar river, the predominantly Serb part of town.</s>CAPT. RUSSEL BERG. U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: They were throwing snowballs and some rocks. There was minor damage to vehicles. Some of the last people to withdraw across, there was one broken nose and -- what was the other? -- a chipped tooth.</s>BURNS: German troops also came under attack from the Serbs. After recent reports critical of French operations in Mitrovica as lacking firmness, the incidents underlined how difficult the KFOR mission can be in a city divided by barbed wire and ethnic hatred. Still, KFOR sought to make a point with the searches. (on camera): The beefed up multinational force here is aimed at sending a strong message to both sides of this bridge -- that KFOR will not tolerate a continued cycle of violence. But in the long run, officials say, the only way to ensure the peace is some kind of political solution. (voice-over): The latest violence in Mitrovica began early this month, when a rocket attack on a U.N. bus killed two Serbs. Ensuing attacks left nine ethnic Albanians dead, causing more than a third of the remaining 3,000 Albanians in northern Mitrovica to leave. As a result, KFOR has doubled its force in Mitrovica to about 2,500 troops. Despite the trouble for the U.S. and German troops, KFOR reported progress. They seized at least 10 AK-47 rifles, as well as a large amount of explosives and ammunition.</s>FLT. LT. NEVILLE CLAYTON, KFOR SPOKESMAN: Hundreds of troops have been there, deployed on the ground, companies from all sorts of multinational countries. And, as I say, we are making a big impact into the area.</s>BURNS: A mineral-rich and potentially explosive area, where ethnic Albanians are fearful of a de facto partition and where Serbs fear being driven out of a Kosovo they feel they've otherwise lost. Chris Burns, CNN, Kosovo,