At least six people were killed today as Kosovo flashpoints erupted in the worst clashes between Serbs and Albanians in four years.
A spokesman for the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission in the area reported 11 French soldiers injured, two seriously, and said KFOR was sending in reinforcements to the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, scene of the worst violence.
But local media reported violence in several other places where the Serb minority live close to majority Albanians, such as Lipljan south of the Kosovo capital, Pristina, and Pec over to the west.
"This is a very dangerous situation. This is very large scale," said UN police spokesman Derek Chappell. "We have five civilian deaths and a number of KFOR soldiers injured, probably by handgrenade. There's still fighting going on."
Shooting started and grenades were thrown in Mitrovica as UN police and NATO troops fired teargas and rubber bullets to prevent Albanians storming the Serbian half of the town.
Two UN police jeeps were set alight and tear gas was fired by troops trying to clear a central security zone.
Reports say three Albanians and two Serbs were killed and over 150 injured. Hospitals appealed for blood donors.
Albanians had massed to vent their rage at yesterday's drowning of two boys. A survivor was quoted as saying they had been hounded into a river by Serbs, who were exacting revenge for a teenager shot in the central village of Caglavica.
Clashes also erupted in Caglavica, with Albanians reported breaking through a police cordon to set two Serb houses ablaze. Fighting broke out and explosions were heard as KFOR helicopters circled overhead, the Serbian Beta agency said.