District of Mitrovica

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Alert sirens were sounded on Friday in all four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo-Metohija - Zubin Potok, Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan and Leposavic - as residents gathered around municipal buildings in Zubin Potok, Zvecan and Leposavic to prevent Pristina's police from taking control of them.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, said in a press release that it was concerned by news that police on Thursday detained a team a reporters from the state broadcaster RTK in Zubin Potok in the Serb-run north of the country while they were shooting.

Kosovo's Special Prosecution filed an indictment on Friday charging Zoran Vukotic with committing rape and participating in the expulsions of ethnic Albanian civilians from the town of Vushtrri/Vucitrn.

Hashim Thaci announced May 19 as the date for the vote.

Mayors of Northern Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, resigned shortly after the Pristina government increased taxes on goods from central Serbia on November 21.

The Serbian weekly Vreme has called on the director of Kosovo Police, Rashit Qelaj, to investigate the fire that broke out in the vehicle driven by three of its journalists and a reporter of the French-language website Le Courrier des Balkans on January 4.

At Tuesday's extraordinary meeting of the mayors of the municipalities of Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan, a declaration was signed by which the leaders of these municipalities withdrew from their functions and severed any communication with the authorities in Pristina.

Ivanovic was shot dead from a moving car on January 16, in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. According to reports, this car was later found torched near the scene.

Rebic added that since being owned by the Serb - who is deceased - the vehicle was subsequently sold several times, and that the police were trying to find out who the last owner was.

The prime minister of Kosovo has condemned a grenade attack on the homes of two Serbian members of the Kosovo Security Forces in the country's northern Mitrovica region.

Police said two explosions early on November 26 caused damage to two homes but no injuries in the town of Zubin Potok, about 55 kilometers north of Pristina. Three cars were also damaged.

The body of a suspected Kosovo war victim was exhumed in the village of Suhodoll/Suvi Do near the northern town of Mitrovica after the remains of other bodies were discovered the previous day.

Tires on 12 cars have been deliberately punctured in the Bosnjacka Mahala settlement of northern Kosovska Mitrovica. According to eyewitnesses, the vehicles have Serbian license plates and are owned by Serbs living in this multi-ethic settlement. Regional Kosovo police chief Zeljko Bojic said that the tires were punctured using a sharp object on nine vehicles […]