Serbian Army on high alert after protest clashes in Kosovo

Belgrade, May 27

The Serbian army has been placed on full combat alert and ordered to move closer to the border with Kosovo after protesters clashed with the latter country's police in the majority Serb town of Zvecan.

According to local Serbian boradcaste RTS, the police on Friday used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd that was trying to prevent a newly-elected ethnic Albanian mayor from entering his office, reports Xinhua news agency.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, "signed an order to raise the combat readiness of the units of the Serbian Armed Forces to the highest level, and ordered them to move in the direction of the administrative line with Kosovo and Metohija", the RTS report said.

The vehicles of Kosovo's special police forces also surrounded the municipal buildings in other cities in north Kosovo, including Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok.

Local Serbs responded to these actions by setting up roadblocks.

Serbs living in north Kosovo have been boycotting the local institutions for several months as a way to protest any form of violence against them, and the mandatory use of Kosovo IDs, travel documents, and car license plates in Kosovo.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Serbia rejects this and considers Kosovo its province.