(dpa) -
Kosovo police said they seized a large quantity of weapons Monday, including
mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades, after stopping a car near the
border with Macedonia.
Four people were arrested in the latest arms bust in Kosovo, which declared
independence from Serbia in February.
"We suspect that the weapons and ammunition were meant for the Macedonian
market," Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa.
Ninety mortar rounds, 47 rocket-propelled grenades and 12 grenade launchers
were seized in the car in the village of Shurdhan, he said.
The seizure came days after Kosovo media broadcast images of armed
Kosovo-Albanians patrolling at the Macedonian border, pledging to fight for a
contested region.
A 2001 agreement between Serbia and Macedonia transferred more than 3,000 hectares of Kosovo territory to Macedonia, helping set off conflict in Macedonia that year between majority Slavs and ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo, which is overwhelmingly Albanian, declared independence from Serbia after nine years as a United Nations protectorate.
More than 30 countries have recognized the new nation, including the United States and several other major Western powers. Serbia and Russia say Kosovo's
secession is illegal.