MITROVICA, Kosovo, May 30 (Reuters) - NATO peacekeeping troops and police fired teargas on Sunday to separate thousands of ethnic Albanians and local Serbs in the divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica during protests against Serb local elections.
The elections are being held with the backing of the Serbian government in Belgrade.
Kosovo, a former province of Serbia with a mainly ethnic Albanian population of two million, declared independence in 2008 but this has not been recognised by Belgrade.
A Reuters eyewitness said shots were fired near the bridge on the Ibar River that separates the southern, ethnic Albanian part of the town from the Serb-dominated northern district.
"We have used a small ammount of teargas and intervened to stop groups of Serbs and Albanians and prevent a further escalation of violence," said Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti.
Two people on the Serb side were slightly injured by rocks the two groups of protesters were hurling at each other, health authorities in the Serb part of Mitrovica said.
NATO troops, European Union police and Kosovo law enforcement officers in full riot gear were deployed at the bridge, facing both sides. NATO helicopters and unmanned recconaissance drones were seen flying over the area.
"Together with NATO troops and EU police we are trying the prevent more incidents," Hoti said.
Ethnic Albanians, led by veterans of the 1998-99 war against Serbian forces, rallied to protest against the local election in the three Serb-dominated municipalities in northern Kosovo where Pristina has no control.
The government in Belgrade, which remains staunchly opposed to Kosovo’s independence, is backing the election.
Tension has remained high in north Kosovo since the Albanian majority proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008, nine years after NATO bombed Serb forces to halt the killing of civilians in the two-year counter-insurgency war.
The 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo refuse to cooperate with Albanian-run institutions and the EULEX force.
