Doctor killed, 11 Serbs hurt in Kosovo blast

The incident happened last Friday at around 10:00 CET. Six women and five men were also hurt, mostly by shrapnel, as they attended a protest described as peaceful.

Thousands northern Kosovska Mitrovica residents shortly escorted the body of Mesud Dzekovic from the local hospital to his home.

When the procession, headed by doctors, nurses and other staff of the health center, left for the home of the deceased Dzekovic, air raid sirens sounded, all stores were closed and several thousand citizens took to the central square in honor of his memory.

Another protest was also held later that day at the town's central square.

The Kosovska Mitrovica District of four municipalities in the north of Kosovo-Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok-has declared Saturday, July 3 as a day of mourning. Several thousand citizens attended that day the funeral of local doctor Mesud Dzekovic.

The Friday attack came as close to a thousand Serbs gathered in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, protesting against the Kosovo Albanian government's intention to open an office there.

The Pristina government wants to open the office to issue personal documents, and Albanian language daily Zeri writes that it is the "first step to integrate this region".

Representatives of those who gathered want the plans for the office to be scrapped.

The flashpoint town is divided by the Ibar River into the northern, predominantly Serb part that has ethnic Albanian and Muslim neighborhoods, while no Serbs live in the ethnic Albanian, southern part of the town.

KFOR and Kosovo police, KPS, members were seen on a bridge that divides the town.

Sirens were heard at one point during that morning, while the Kosovo Albanian government premises were guarded by EULEX, said reports.

Kosovska Mitrovica District chief Radenko Nedeljkovic was present at the protest, along with presidents of the northern, Serb municipalities, directors of institutions and companies, who all agreed that the people would not allow for institutions of the so-called state of Kosovo to be set up in this part of the province, Beta reports.

Nedeljkovic also met with EULEX representatives, whose special police forces are guarding the office. The protesters were not allowed to gather in front of that building "for security reasons".

The Zubin Potok municipal president, Slavisa Ristic, accused the EU mission, EULEX, of not acting in a status-neutral manner, but of instead "doing everything they could in the past year and a half" to establish authorities of the so-called independent Kosovo in the north of the province.

Albanian language media in Pristina, meanwhile, quoted unnamed sources who said that the goal of the office was to "integrate the Serb community into the system and institutions of Kosovo", and that this was a part of the strategy for northern Kosovo that was produced earlier this year by the government in Pristina, and the International Civilian Office (ICO).

Both Serbs in northern Kosovo and official Belgrade rejected these plans when they were announced.