Week of 20 August through 26 August

Ten Kosovo Albanians arrested in anti-crime operation
25 AUGUST -- A large-scale operation to crack down on crime in Kosovo has led to the arrest of 10 Kosovo Albanians for taking part in a criminal association and for illegal possession of weapons, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) reported today.  FULL STORY >>

UN refugee agency reports rise in mandatory returns of Kosovars from Western Europe
25 AUGUST -- The rate of mandatory returns of Kosovo refugees from Western Europe and other countries has increased, getting close to 500 per week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.  FULL STORY >>

As elections near, violence persists in Kosovo, UN official tells Security Council
24 AUGUST -- Concerns are growing over what is perceived to be politically associated violence in Kosovo in the run up to crucial municipal elections, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.  FULL STORY >>

Containing violence "the primary challenge" in Kosovo, says UN report
23 AUGUST-- Faced with continuing inter-ethnic tension, the primary challenge for the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, KFOR, is containing the violence and defusing potential flashpoints, according to the latest report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Security Council.  FULL STORY >>

Identification of exhumed bodies in Kosovo under way
23 AUGUST -- The identification of the remains of 176 bodies exhumed by forensic experts from unmarked graves in a city cemetery in Kosovo is under way, UNMIK said in a statement issued today.   FULL STORY >>

Two Kosovar Albanians shot at checkpoint; one dies
22 AUGUST -- A soldier of the international peacekeeping troops, KFOR, on Monday killed one Albanian man and wounded another at a checkpoint in the north of the territory, near Mitrovica. The soldier fired to protect his officer who was "seriously assaulted" by the two men during an altercation, KFOR spokesman Major Scott Slaten said in a statement issued today.  FULL STORY >>