NATO says it authorized more troops for Kosovo

PHOTO CAPTION: Representational photo — Italian Army soldiers are seen during a training exercise at the Gjakova/Gjakovë Airfield in Kosovo on June 10, 2021. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tawny Schmit via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO said in a statement on Friday that it had "authorized additional forces to address the current situation" in Kosovo.

NATO did not immediately specify how many additional forces or from which countries.

A battle between police and armed Serbs holed up in a monastery turned a quiet village in northern Kosovo into a war zone earlier this week.

Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and 1999 NATO intervention, accuses Serbia of arming and supporting the Serb fighters.

Serbia, which has not recognised its former province's independence, blames Kosovo for precipitating violence by mistreating ethnic Serb residents. Serbia and the main Serb political group in Kosovo have proclaimed public mourning for the Serbs killed in the battle.

(Reporting by Andrew Gray, Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Mark Potter and Alex Richardson)