Serb Slain, 8 Hurt in Kosovo Attack Blamed on Albanians

ORAHOVAC, Yugoslavia — Gunmen believed to be ethnic Albanians sprayed automatic gunfire and hurled grenades into a Serbian cafe in this southwestern Kosovo town, killing a Serb and wounding eight others, officials said Saturday.

In the wake of Friday night’s attack, more than 100 angry Serbs gathered Saturday afternoon in the town square to demand that peacekeepers provide better protection.

The Serbs refused to talk to reporters, shaking fists at them and screaming, “Albanian spies, go away!” They insisted that the attackers were ethnic Albanians, although none had been arrested.

Dutch Capt. Marc Sweelssen described the atmosphere in the town, about 30 miles southwest of Pristina, the provincial capital, as “very tense” and said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had stepped up patrols after the attack.

Twelve Serbs were in the cafe when the attack occurred, according to a statement by the NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force. Peacekeepers rushed to the scene, but the two gunmen fled.

The wounded were evacuated by helicopter and ambulances to the Argentine military clinic in nearby Djakovica.

One Serb died of head injuries, said Lt. Col. Luis Barusso, director of the clinic. The dead man was identified by Yugoslavia’s independent Beta news agency as Zoran Vukicevic, the cafe’s owner.

Four of the injured were treated and released by early Saturday, peacekeepers said.

Serbian forces withdrew from the province after an 11-week air campaign by NATO to halt an “ethnic cleansing” campaign against Kosovo Albanians. The peacekeepers, who arrived in June in Kosovo--a province of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic--have been unable to stop ethnic Albanian reprisals against Serbs.

In a statement distributed by Yugoslavia’s official Tanjug news agency, Orahovac’s Serbs demanded that peacekeepers “finally stop your practice of treating the criminals as your allies,” referring to ethnic Albanians.

The commander of the NATO-led force, German Gen. Klaus Reinhardt, denounced the attack as a “cowardly assault” against “innocent citizens.”