NATO vows to respond firmly to Kosovo violence

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo will deal firmly with any violence in the territory in line with the U.N. mandate for the operation, an alliance spokesman said on Monday.

"NATO condemns in the strongest form the violence we have seen in northern Kosovo today," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said by telephone after alliance troops came under fire during Serb riots in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica.

"(The NATO-led force) KFOR will respond firmly to any acts of violence, as is its mandate from the United Nations," he said.

(Reporting by Mark John; editing by Sami Aboudi)