NATO-led troops on the move in northern Kosovo
Kosovo’s NATO-led peacekeepers moved troops through the Serb-dominated north on 13 December, an AFP correspondent reported, amid high tensions with Serbia on the eve of a vote to create a Kosovo army.
A spokesman for the international KFOR forces, which guarantees the security of the former Serbian province, confirmed the deployment and told AFP it was part of ‘normal exercises all around Kosovo’.
‘We have a couple of convoys moving around. One of them is going today to the north,’ said KFOR spokesman Vincenzo Grasso, adding that there was no reason for alarm.
About 50 KFOR vehicles moved through the city of Mitrovica and headed north in the direction of Leposavic, a mostly Serb municipality, an AFP correspondent said.
The top local official in Leposavic municipality confirmed troops were in the village of Dren on the morning of 13 December.
The movement comes as Kosovo lawmakers prepare to vote 14 December to transform a local crisis response force into a full-fledged army.
The vote has outraged Belgrade, which refuses to accept the independence Kosovo declared in 2008, a decade after a brutal guerrilla war.
KFOR, which has more than 4,000 troops, has been deployed in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-99 war between Serb forces and Kosovo Albanian separatists.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain]()
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.
-
![How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces]()
How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces
Saab has outlined how it is using artificial intelligence to make training more like electronic gaming, while the UK’s Power Size Technologies is applying the same technology to better evaluate and design vehicle capability, moving AI-enabled innovation further upstream from the frontline.
-
![From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)]()
From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)
Philipp von Brandenstein, Head of Corporate Communications at Rheinmetall, explains how Eurosatory 2026 marked a new stage in the company's evolution.
-
![US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system]()
US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system
The US Department of Defense has requested new contracting authorities from Congress, using the Army's MV-75 Cheyenne programme to demonstrate how competition, digital engineering and closer industry collaboration could accelerate acquisitions.
-
![US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule]()
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
