Germany to send more troops to Kosovo-army source
BERLIN, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Germany is to send more troops to Kosovo after turbulence following the province's declaration of independence from Serbia, an army source said on Friday.
Germany would send the extra troops from Bavaria in the next few days as part of a training exercise but the transfer was also meant to demonstrate the force's strength in the context of recent violence, the source said.
Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority announced its independence from Serbia on Feb 17, and the declaration has been met with daily, sometimes violent, protests by Serbs.
Backed by Russia, Serbia and Kosovo's 120,000 remaining Serbs have rejected the Western-backed secession.
Germany has more than 2,000 troops in Kosovo which are part of the 16,000-plus NATO-led KFOR security force.
Kosovo became a de facto U.N. protectorate in 1999 after NATO bombed for 11 weeks to drive out Serb forces and halt the killing and ethnic cleansing of Albanian civilians during a two-year counter-insurgency war.
The European Union is taking over policing and supervision of the new country. Serbs have branded the mission an "occupation". (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Kerstin Gehmlich; editing by Ralph Boulton)
