Kosovo police clash with ethnic Serbs during smuggling raids

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have returned after police in Kosovo clashed with ethnic Serbs during an anti-smuggling operation. At least 11 people were injured, and the episode prompted an angry response from Serbia on Wednesday. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic blamed “big Western powers” for failing to protect Kosovo Serbs and said if they don’t, his government will. NATO has a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, where separatists and Serbian troops fought a bloody war in the late 1990s. The region is on edge again after a border dispute last month between Kosovo and Serbia over vehicle license plates threatened to spiral into violence.