Kosova Serbs set border checkpoints on fire to protest Kosova independence

MITROVICA, Feb. 19 – Serbs set off sporadic explosions and torched checkpoints between Serbia and Kosova on Tuesday to protest Kosova’s declaration of independence and international recognition of the new nation, news agencies reported.
Two border crossings in northern Kosova, staffed by U.N. and Kosova’s multiethnic police and customs service, were set ablaze by Kosova Serbs who want them removed as a symbol of their desire to rejoin Serbia.
Protesters also tipped over metal sheds housing Kosova’s customs service and sent them sliding down a hill and into a river. Passport control booths were vandalized and set ablaze after more than a thousand of angry Kosova Serbs marched to the Jarnije checkpoint about 18 miles north of Kosovska Mitrovica. Groups of Serbs also destroyed another border checkpoint in the nearby village of Brnja. In both cases, there was no intervention from NATO peacekeepers or Kosova police but traffic was stopped on the road between Mitrovica and Serbia. NATO temporarily troops sealed off the northern border, concerned that Serbian militants could cross over to fight in Kosova.