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MONS, Belgium, Sept 30 - U.S. Army troops will parachute into parts of Kosovo on Friday in an exercise designed to demonstrate that combat forces can get there quickly if the need arises.
In addition to practising for an emergency, the operation may be intended as a warning to Belgrade against any provocation in Kosovo, where NATO has deployed some 50,000 KFOR peacekeeping troops.
The exercise involves 150 paratroopers from the Southern European Task Force in Vicenza, Italy, and seven C-130 Hercules transport planes from the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany.
"This peacetime training operation is intended to exercise the ability of a combat force to rapidly deploy to a contingency area should the need arise," a news release from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Power Europe (SHAPE) said on Thursday.
The troops will parachute into "designated drop zones in Kosovo where they will conduct small unit tactical training", it said, without specifying where the troops were being sent.
Alliance military commanders have expressed concern over reports that Serb army, police or paramilitary forces have infiltrated the province or remained there under cover after the June 20 deadline for quitting the territory.
The government in Belgrade has repeatedly criticised NATO and the United Nations for their conduct in Kosovo, complaining that they are not protecting Serbs from ethnic Albanians.
Belgrade recently played down a warning from a senior Serb general that the army could return to Kosovo by force to protect Serbian interests.
A United Nations resolution on Kosovo gives Serbia the right to return a small number of officials to liaise with NATO and the United Nations, mark and clear minefields, protect Serbian sites and man key border crossings.
NATO has said it is too early to think about allowing uniformed Serbian personnel back into Kosovo and would react quickly if they were to appear without warning in any bid to test KFOR.
Command of the Kosovo peacekeeping force is due to handed over next week to a German general, Kalus Reinhardt, who replaces Britain's Lieutenant General Sir Mike Jackson.