Many Serbs fear they will be forced to leave if the Albanians are allowed to enter. Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during the Yugoslav crackdown against separatists in Kosovo that led to last year's NATO air war. When Serb troops withdrew at the end of the war, Albanians began to return last spring, and they started attacking Serbs in revenge. U.S. officials blame the Yugoslav government for the latest flare-up of violence, which began after a February 2 grenade attack on a U.N. bus killed two elderly Serbs near Kosovska Mitrovica. That triggered revenge attacks that have killed nine people and injured dozens more.
Yugoslav officials deny any role in the increasingly tense situation.
At least 1,000 Albanians have fled the area in the last few weeks since violence erupted there. Many more have been unable to return to their pre-war homes in the north because Serbs have grouped together in neighborhoods across the Ibar River. The North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body, has called a special meeting for Friday to discuss the situation in Kosovo. And as the province simmered, NATO officials kept an eye on Yugoslav forces in the region. NATO leaders say Yugoslavia is building up its forces in southern Serbia, along the province's eastern border.