Car Bomb Destroys Supermarket

Bomb Blast in Pristina

Last night/this morning at approximately midnight, a car bomb exploded outside the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) headquarters in downtown Pristina.  The vehicle, reported to be an Audi 44, was destroyed but there were no injuries.  As usual, there is little information available, in fact I didn't even realize that it had occurred until checking up on a friend in Amman who had already heard about it all the way in Jordan!  Crazy how we in the mission wouldn't even know about it and someone in another country does!

Also the French Commander of the base located Vucitrn has apologized for the excessive use of tear gas during some exercises with local police.  Reportedly, 18 children from Vucitrn and some elderly from villages near Novo Selo were treated in hospital for the effects of tear gas.  All are reported to be in good condition now.

Illegal Checkpoints & Another Shoot-Out

Reports of illegal checkpoints set up by armed Albanian groups are emerging again. Between 11-11:30pm on Sunday, the group was reportedly stopping vehicles and checking IDs, welcoming those they stopped to inform the police that they were doing so.  A KPS official from Ferizaj confirmed that KPS was aware of the illegal checkpoints and activities.

On the 8th, a Czech Republic KFOR soldier was injured in a shoot-out with a group of Albanians.  One Albanian was also injured and several were arrested.  The KFOR soldiers came upon the Albanians illegally cutting wood.  The Albanians resisted and a warning shot was fired.  The Albanians then returned fire.  The KFOR soldier is being treated in a military hospital in Kosovo.

In other news, a bus of 40 Serbs was stoned by Albanians near the village of Djakovica as they were attempting to visit a cemetery.  The bus was being escorted by KFOR and KPS.  The Serbs are refugees from the town who fled after the conflict but returning to commemorate the restoration of some Christian monuments that had recently been destroyed.  The bus suffered minor damage but no one was injured.
There was also an interesting article about Kosovo and Montenegro's accension into the EU.  In the distance future in many people's minds but it's a good read -->  Red Tape In the EU

Black Shadow Group

A break-off of the recognized terrorist group Albanian National Army (ANA) is demanding that the Presevo Valley area be included in the "independence package" of Kosovo.  The ANA was officially labeled as a terrorist organization in 2003 by the SRSG for their activities against police in southern Serbia and parts of Macedonia.
You might remember the Presevo Valley from the news in 2000-2001 when an armed group of Albanians were fighting Serbian police. In one and a half years of shadowy fighting, 100 people were killed.  Belgrade only had a light security presence in the area because the zone was part of NATO's Ground Security Zones (GSZ).  NATO finally convinced the group to lay down their arms and there hasn't been much news of trouble in the area since.

The Black Shadow group issued a statement that Presevo, Bujanovac, Medvedja municipalities should be part of the independence negotiations and that the group will not accept any negotiation outcomes if they do not include those areas.  The group also warned the international community not to repeat the mistakes of the past that lead to war in the Balkans as well as mentioning that Albanian police officers should take care in their actions else they would be considered collaborators with the Serbs.

Happy Halloween!

As I joked a couple days ago, the Albanians are more American than Americans at times.  While Halloween is typically considered an American holiday, for the past two years, they have celebrated Halloween in Kosovo.  Tonight we can expect to see little ghouls and witches running around downtown Pristina searching for candy.  There was a Halloween Party on Saturday night in the UN with yours truly (Dj Vegas in da Haunted House!) that was pretty fun.  We spent all afternoon carving up pumpkins and making decorations for the SRC Lounge at MHQ.  I had a pumpkin lighting my front balcony last night as well...Smokey was interested as it was the first time he had seen a pumpkin before...thankfully he did not try to claim the pumpkin is his as he does with all the trees in the yard (and lately the front gate)!

For some reason, the power was horrible from Saturday afternoon until Sunday noon-time.  The schedule seemed to be two on and four off.  The worst thing about it is that my generator was in for service so I ended up sitting in the dark while I was home (luckily we had the party so I didn't go insane!)  But I have a feeling that it will be long, cold winter!  The weather is dropping down to freezing at nights now so I'm starting to fire up (no pun intended) the wood stove in my living room.  After a discussion with friends yesterday, I'm considering buying a wood stove heater for my living room.  They cost around 100 Euros but I think it would help to retain some more of the heat in the living room than the old classic stove that I have now :)

Cracker Jack Box

I think many of the drivers on Kosovo roadways received their driver's license from a Cracker Jack box.  During my bi-weekly visit to Bondsteel (I hit the PX every other weekend if I can) I witnessed two near misses for a head-on collision, was cut off three times by a driver who failed to have enough room to pass the line of vehicles in front of me, and saw no KPS traffic control points.  Honestly, I think the people drive here on sheer luck rather than skill.  I already dislike being cut-off by other drivers but when I am cut-off going 80 kms per hour by someone who just doesn't care to check if it is safe to pass and thinks that he can just jump back into the line of traffic if he sees an oncoming vehicle...that just makes my blood boil.  To read some more about Kosovo driving, you can check the humorous Kosovo Driver's Handbook :)
One of the more frustrating things about driving in Kosovo is that many of the local and international police just don't care to enforce the laws.  In fact too many of them (particularly the KPS) are the ones who are driving like maniacs!  Some of my friends have blue lights for their UN vehicles and occasionally use them to pull people over.  They joked that I don't get one because I would pull over all the stupid drivers :o)

Shootout at OK Corral

Okay, it wasn't at the OK Corral but in Kacanik, near the Macedonia border.  And it wasn't much of a shootout...more like a shot-at...but I do like that title! 
Last night, gunmen opened fire on a KPS vehicle carrying four Serbian police officers.  This is the third attack on Serbian KPS in the past two months and is increasing the thinking that there is an organized violent campaign in the area.  I believe it was just last month that two Serbian KPS officers were killed by attackers in the same area.

In unrelated news, for the first time, Kosovo has received its first asylum seekers.  A group of ten Bangladeshis, two Indians, and one Pakistani arrived on Monday (24 Oct) seeking asylum.  It is the first case and there is currently no system to deal with asylum seekers arriving from other countries.  It will be interesting to see what happens.