NATO troops hurt in Kosovo clash

At least 16 Kosovo Serbs and four NATO troops were injured in clashes at a disputed border crossing on Tuesday, NATO officials and local authorities said.          Witnesses said troops from the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd rallying against the removal of a Serb-held barricade on a small road about 150 meters (yards) from the Jarinje border post linking Kosovo with Serbia.        

NATO spokesman Kai Gudenoge said four peacekeepers were injured after improvised bombs were thrown at their position near Jarinje.       

"Four soldiers were injured in explosions of pipe bombs. Three have minor injuries, while the fourth who has serious injuries, will be evacuated," Gudenoge said.        

NATO said its forces had responded with rubber bullets used in self-defense after Kosovo Serbs pelted them with stones and fired at the border checkpoint 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pristina.        

Milan Jakovljevic, the head of the hospital in the Serb, northern part of Mitrovica, a tense city divided into Albanian and Serb districts, said six wounded men had serious gunshot wounds and not injuries caused by rubber bullets.       

-Reuters