Kosovo attack denounced

Serb families in parts of Kosovo have been under US armed guard

The head of the British military contingent in Kosovo has condemned a landmine explosion in which two Serbs were killed as a deliberate act of terrorism.

General Richard Shirreff said it had been a professional, well-planned attack and was clearly aimed at Serbs.

The victims were in a van delivering beer to a village south of the capital, Pristina. A third man in the vehicle was critically injured.

Bernard Kouchner took Albanian leaders to the scene of the attack

The killings are the latest in a series of attacks blamed on Kosovo Albanians, who have attacked the minority Serb population to gain revenge for previous repression and human rights violations.

The attacks have continued despite high-profile efforts by the United Nations to clamp down on the problem.

A Kosovo Albanian newspaper deemed to be encouraging violence was recently shut down by the UN.

And this week the former Albanian president, Sali Berisha, was banned from visiting the province, after the UN cited security concerns.

Condemned

The latest attack also prompted a response from the head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner.

He took the unusual step of visiting the site with leading Albanian politicians.

Hashim Thaci, the former head of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and Ibrahim Rugova, the President of the Democratic League of Kosovo, both condemned the killings.

Some Serbs have already fled their homes

However, Mr Thaci said the attack bore all the hallmarks of Serbian state security services.

The BBC's Nick Wood says his comments suggest a reluctance among some Kosovo Albanian leaders to accept that their countrymen could be responsible for the latest wave of violence.

The incident, near Lipljan, is the second of its kind in the area this month.

Two weeks ago, two Serbs were killed when their car ran over a mine in the nearby town of Kosovo Polje.

And three Serbs were injured last week in a grenade attack on a crowded market in the village of Gracanica.