Troops destined for Kosovo peacekeeping force

The Ministry of Defence is preparing to send an additional 750 troops to Kosovo.

The move comes on a call from Nato requesting that the KFOR peacekeeping force be strengthened in the face of continuing ethnic unrest in the area of former Yugoslavia.

A recent escalation of unrest in the province has left at least 20 people dead and hundreds injured as clashes between Serbs and Albanians spread throughout the area.

Speaking yesterday about the situation in Kosovo, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he strongly condemned the inter-ethnic violence in Kosovo that had led to attacks on KFOR soldiers.

The Nato Secretary General said troops had been operating at great personal risk to stop the violence and uphold law and order. Describing the attacks as "outrageous", he appealed for them to stop immediately.

"This latest outbreak of violence and senseless loss of life will only make it more difficult for Kosovo to meet the standards that the international community has laid down for the creation of a stable, multiethnic and democratic Kosovo. No one except the extremists can hope to gain from such violence."

Expressing his sympathies for the victims of the incidents and their families, Mr de Hoop Scheffer said: "Legal investigation into the incidents leading to the death of children in Kosovska Mitrovica is under way by the Kosovo authorities and the perpetrators must be brought to justice through the rule of law."

In one incident a number of French KFOR soldiers were reported to have been seriously injured.

The MoD said that General Sir Michael Walker, the Chief of Defence Staff, had received a request for troops from the Supreme Allied Commander Nato.

Although part of Serbia Montenegro, the province is in effect a United Nations protectorate.

(SP)