Albanians Attacked by Serbs in Flashpoint Kosovo Town

Serbs attacked three Kosovo Albanians Wednesday in the northern part of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, a police official said.

"Three Albanians were attacked in the Cesmin Lug neighborhood by a group of Serbs," Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti told AFP.

"The people attacked were part of a big group employed in an environmental project supported by USAID," the American government agency providing economic and humanitarian aid, he added.

Hoti added that gunshots were also heard during the incident in the northern part of the town, where Serbs are in the overwhelming majority.

The U.S. embassy in Pristina condemned the attack which it said was directed at "a multi-ethnic group of 41 workers" involved in an environmental clean-up project.

"We denounce the use of violence and intimidation by those who pursue their narrow, backward-looking political agendas by undermining the public welfare and the right of all people to make a living and to improve their community's economy and society," the embassy said in a statement.

Violence has flared in northern Kosovo since Tuesday when NATO-led KFOR troops moved in to dismantle a Serb roadblock close to the disputed border with Serbia.

Four KFOR soldiers and six Serbs were wounded in the clashes that followed.

Serbia's state secretary for Kosovo Oliver Ivanovic, who was in Kosovska Mitrovica, urged all sides to stay calm.

"I call on all to calm down tensions as nobody will benefit from violence," Ivanovic told Beta news agency.