KFOR to Halve Troop Numbers in Kosovo

The NATO-led force in Kosovo, KFOR, has announced that it will reduce the number of its troops to 5,500 from 10,000.

Voice of America, B92

This was confirmed for Voice of America by the force's commander, German General Erhard Buehler. He said it was proof that the mission had been successfully carried out.

"The Kosovo operation has been successful for years, and now we need to organise for, I'd say, the last third of out mission," he said.

"We are reducing the troops to 5,500 from 10,000, which is the so-called second step, and in the future we will have territorial commands everywhere in Kosovo with liaison officers and observer teams. We'll also have two battle groups and one tactical reserve," said Buehler.

He also said he believed KFOR would be able to respond to any situation with its reduced numbers.

"The security situation is good, peaceful. It's not yet stable, especially in the [predominantly Serb] north, so the key efforts are still in that area, but I think we can allow ourselves to reduce the number of troops in Kosovo," Buehler explained.

NATO troops entered Kosovo on June 12, 1999, after 78 days of air strikes on Serb positions aimed at halting ethnic cleansing against Albanians under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. During the initial days of the conflict, NATO's peacekeeping operation had approximately 50,000 troops on the ground.