U.N. Police Vehicle Explodes in Kosovo
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A U.N. police vehicle exploded Thursday, killing an international police officer, authorities said. A bomb was suspected to have caused the blast.
The officer, who was not identified, was driving to work when the blast occurred at about 8:20 a.m in Prizren, some 50 miles southwest of province's capital, Pristina (search), said Ken Stica, a U.N. police spokesman.
"I can confirm that an international police officer was killed in an explosion while driving to work," he said.
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It was suspected that the explosion was caused by "an improvised explosive device placed under his vehicle," said Fatmir Gjurgjeali, a local police spokesman in the city of Prizren.
An investigation was still under way.
The officer's nationality was not officially disclosed. But, police sources said the officer was from Nigeria.
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Some 3,000 international police officers serve in the U.N. force, which was deployed in Kosovo in mid-1999 when the mission started to administer the province.