20 March 2001
KFOR troops seize weapons cache near border
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo (Army News Service, March 20,
2001) - U.S. soldiers in Kosovo seized a large weapons cache
near the Macedonian border March 16 as they patrolled to keep
armed "extremists" out of a buffer zone between the two
countries.
Also, for the first time
since the air war almost two
years ago, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia forces were allowed
back last week into part of the buffer area around Kosovo known
as the Ground Safety Zone.
The Ground Safety Zone had
become a safe haven for armed
Albanian extremists, according to officials. To stop violence
along the border, NATO authorized the Kosovo Force to begin a
limited, progressive and closely monitored return of Yugoslavian
soldiers into the GSZ.
KFOR officials said this
"relaxation" of the GSZ is
being done to restore peace and security to the region.
"This is progress," said
Col. Thomas Gross, KFOR
Multinational Brigade East chief of staff. "The fact that this
is happening less than two years after the war is indicative of
the progress being made inside Kosovo."
The weapons cache confiscated
near the border town of
Lovce included rockets and rocket launchers, mortar and grenade
rounds, machine guns and assorted military equipment.
A KFOR patrol from 2nd Battalion,
6th Infantry Regiment
observed a white VW Golf automobile traveling south from
Podgrade, according to reports. The car's two occupants spotted
the KFOR patrol and fled from the vehicle into the wood line.
A search of the vehicle
netted a cache of weapons
including a PG-22 rocket launcher, an M80 rocket launcher,
forty-three mortar and grenade rounds, four 85mm rockets, two
squad machine guns, one sniper rifle, one light machine gun, 25
camouflage hats, two full sets of German battle dress uniforms,
two sets of woodland battle dress uniforms, one radio and two
bags of black fabric.
"The seizure of this cache removes
those weapons from
circulation and further usage in illegal acts," said Maj. James
Marshall, Task Force Falcon spokesman. "Multinational Brigade
East will continue to perform its mission of promoting safety
and security along the Ground Safety Zone."
The portion of the Ground
Safety Zone that KFOR allowed
Yugoslavian soldiers to re-enter was Sector C (East), located in
Serbia just across the border from the town of Surlane.
Surlane, in the southeast portion of Kosovo just north of
Macedonia, falls in an area under the responsibility of U.S.
soldiers of MNB(East). U.S. troops there are currently augmented
by the KFOR operational reserve, a company of Norwegian soldiers
from the Norwegian Battalion.
On March 17, inadvertent
mortar fire from Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia forces exploded near Norwegian
KFOR positions close to the town of Gorno Zlokucane. Macedonian
forces across the border were reportedly battling a group of
armed Albanians. There were no KFOR injuries, officials said.
Multinational Brigade East
coordinated with Macedonian
border units to clarify procedures for artillery fires to
prevent this type of incident from happening again, KFOR
officials said.
Three U.S. Blackhawk helicopters
assisted in the
aero-medical evacuation of Macedonian soldiers injured when
their helicopter crashed March 17 near the village of Popova
Sapka.
Two men were killed and
12 were injured in the crash of
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia helicopter. The MI-8
helicopter was landing in a parking lot when its tail rotor
struck a light pole, officials said. There were 21 passengers on
board.
Two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters
were dispatched from
Camp Able Sentry and one was dispatched from Camp Bondsteel.
The U.S. aircraft teamed up with Multinational Brigade (South)
helicopters at the scene and assisted each other in transporting
the patients to University Hospital in Skopje, Macedonia. U.S.
aircraft transported four patients and one doctor to the
hospital.
MNB (East) Explosive Ordnance
Detachment teams responded
to 23 incidents last week, including two house bombings.
A house explosion in Partes
caused 200 Serbs to block
the main road through the town Monday evening. The group also
set fire to four heavy trucks, destroying them. An Albanian
male truck driver was physically assaulted and injured by the
group. He was transported to the Gnjlane Hospital for
treatment. Col. Gene Kamena,
deputy commander for maneuver
for Multinational Brigade East, arrived on scene and talked with
the mayor of Partes to help end the disturbance. The United
Nations Mission in Kosovo Police force is continuing its
investigation of the house explosion, officials said.
The Task Force Falcon Mine
Action Center personnel and
EOD soldiers also taught an unexploded ordnance awareness class
to about 30 Kosovo Protection Corps personnel in
Urosevac/Ferizaj last week.
(Editor's note: Information
compiled from KFOR news
releases.)
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