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
-
![US military seeks common controllers for drones and robotic systems]()
US military seeks common controllers for drones and robotic systems
US Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command initiatives signal demand for interoperable uncrewed systems control, creating opportunities for suppliers of hardware, software and integration services.
-
![“Engage with the operational problem”: how software innovation can boost UK defence]()
“Engage with the operational problem”: how software innovation can boost UK defence
In Conversation… Shephard’s Andrew White talks to Zafer Şen, CEO and co-founder of OBSS, about the future of command-and-control software in the age of artificial intelligence, and his company’s ambitions in the UK defence market.
-
![“Capital follows confidence” as defence courts private money]()
“Capital follows confidence” as defence courts private money
Outside investment and the direction in which venture money flows may reveal what defence will buy years before formal programmes begin.
-
![Canada’s new military drone marketplace targets rapid acquisition pipeline]()
Canada’s new military drone marketplace targets rapid acquisition pipeline
The Department of National Defence expects initial contracts to deliver thousands of uncrewed systems, but has yet to establish the quantities, capability mix or deadline behind Ottawa’s promised tenfold expansion.
