K. Serb returnee seriously injured

24 January 2011 | 11:55 | Source: FoNet

OSOJANE -- A Serb returnee to the Kosovo village of Opraške near Osojane was attacked and seriously injured in his home, FoNet reports. The news agency is quoting statements of other Serbs in the area, and identifies the man as Branko Milovanović. According to this, Milovanović was attacked by unknown persons, and is currently in an intensive care unit in a hospital in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. Tanjug news agency reported that doctors in Kosovska Mitrovica said the 49-year-old victim's injuries were not life threatening. According to this report, Milovanović was attacked by "three unidentified young men in front of his house". He was hospitalized with head injuries, concussion, broken ribs and heavy bruises. This is the fourth incident in Opraške, where nine returnee families live. A week ago, the house of Serb returnee Mile Vuletić, empty at the time, was set on fire and burned to the ground. During last week, two Serb houses were broken into and robbed. Their representative in the Istok municipality Vesna Maliković said the Serbs there were "very upset" by the news. The Serb families, driven out of their homes by ethnic Albanians, returned to the village in 2006.