PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) — Serbian police searched houses and seized weapons in Albanian villages in the province of Kosovo on Sunday, ethnic Albanian officials said, a day after clashes killed at least 20 people.
Meanwhile, the leader of Kosovo’s Albanians appealed to the United States and the European Union to pressure the government to stop what he called police violence.
“Urgent measures” are needed to prevent the Serb attacks against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority, Ibrahim Rugova said in a statement.
The latest fighting has heightened fear of all-out war in the province, which borders on Albania and is seeking autonomy from Serbia.
The clashes represented the worst single day of violence since the Kosovo Liberation Army began operating in 1996. The clandestine ethnic Albanian group has since claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks.