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PRISTINA, Oct 5, 1999 -- Kosovo's NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force, flexing muscle it has so far been reluctant to use, on Tuesday removed a roadblock erected by Serbs in the town of Kosovo Polje.
British troops used engineering vehicles to remove the barricade - consisting of a truck parked across a main road together with blocks of wood and a red blue and white Serbian flag - in an early morning operation, KFOR said.
The Serbs in the town, just south of the capital Pristina, had been blocking the road since Tuesday of last week when two grenades exploded in a local marketplace, killing two members of their community and wounding more than 40.
Serbs have been the target of frequent attacks by ethnic Albanians, angry at years of Serb repression, since NATO bombing drove out Yugoslav and Serb forces from Kosovo in mid-June.
KFOR said no one was hurt in Tuesday's operation, believed to be first time it had forcibly removed a roadblock protest.
British military officers and United Nations officials said they had made every effort to address the grievances of Kosovo Polje Serbs, who had demanded better security to protect them from Albanian attacks and access to local community facilities.
"The negotiations are continuing and we're still taking account of the concerns of both communities, especially the Serbs," said Lieutenant Colonel Dermot O'Donovan, spokesman for British forces in Kosovo.
Some Serbs had a brief sit-down protest when the British military vehicles approached the roadblock but they were persuaded to disperse after two demonstrators were briefly arrested, O'Dononvan told Reuters.
A counter-demonstration on a nearby railway line by local Albanians, who had complained the Serb roadblock was cutting them off from family and friends, broke up peacefully once the Serb protest had been ended, O'Donovan said.
The removal operation is, however, likely to expose KFOR to accusations of double standards as ethnic Albanians have been blocking roads around the southwestern town of Orahovac for more than a month to keep out Russian troops, whom they mistrust.