Serbian protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at K-For vehicles |
About 70 Serb civilians were wounded in the town as well as 63 members of the UN police and Nato-led peacekeepers.
Rioters threw stones petrol bombs, grenades - as well as firearms - international forces say.
Nato admitted its troops had used "both lethal and non-lethal means" - but had only shot in the air.
The clashes began after the UN tried to wrest control of a courthouse seized by the Serbs last week.
It is the worst unrest since Kosovo's independence declaration last month, which Serbia says is illegal.
The BBC's Nick Thorpe, who was barred by local Serbs from entering the north of the town on Monday, reports from southern Mitrovica that an eerie quiet has descended on the town after the day's violence.
Anniversary
The unrest coincided with the fourth anniversary of rioting in Mitrovica by Kosovo Albanians which drove some 4,000 people, mainly Serbs, from their homes, and left at least 19 people dead, according to UN figures.
Stones, petrol bombs and gunfire were directed at UN troops |
The Nato-led K-For has taken over security in the divided town, where Serbs are concentrated on the northern side of the Ibar river.
The violence began after about 100 UN police arrested 53 Serbs occupying a UN court in the north of the city.
Scores of protesters blocked the police vehicles as they tried to leave and rocks and petrol bombs were thrown, according to Kosovo police.
Almost half of those arrested were set free during the violence. UN and Nato vehicles were set alight.
As the situation escalated, UN police were ordered to withdraw, leaving K-For troops to control the situation.
At least 70 Serbs were treated for injuries, including one person with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Kosovo Serb hospital sources quoted by Serbian media and the Associated Press news agency.
Polish police commander Andrzej Matejuk said 27 of the injured UN police were Poles, but their lives were not in danger. Fourteen Ukrainians with the UN police were also wounded.
The French military said 20 French K-For soldiers were injured, eight seriously.
K-For troops backed by armoured cars are now in control of the court building.
'Excessive force'
"I understand that today [Nato-led] forces had to use both lethal and non-lethal means to control the rioting crowd," said Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, John Craddock, on a visit to Afghanistan.
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 When we were coming out of the compound, the van I was in was stopped by Serbs who trashed it and freed us  Dragoljub Drazevic Serb protester  |
Speaking in Brussels, Nato spokesman James Appathurai said rioters had used "Molotov cocktails, grenades and possible automatic weapons".
French spokesman Etienne du Fayet de la Tour told Reuters news agency K-For troops had "used automatic weapons to respond but fired only warning shots... in the air, not into the crowd".
The European Commission voiced its full support for the efforts of the UN administration and K-For to maintain order, saying violence was unacceptable.
Serbian President Boris Tadic accused the international forces in Kosovo of using "excessive force" and warned of "an escalation of unrest on all the territory of the province".
Russia's ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, accused K-For of using "disproportionate force... against women and children", and urged an end to the "escalation".
"Given that there are lot of hidden guns in Kosovo, there could be a lot of bloodshed," he added.
Rallies
Many of the protesters who seized the court last week are said to be former staff who lost their jobs in 1999 at the end of the war in Kosovo, when it came under UN administration.
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Serbs had staged rallies outside the building for several weeks, preventing ethnic Albanian court employees from crossing the bridge over the Ibar. Tension in the region has risen sharply since Kosovo declared independence.
Last week, Serbs tried to take control of a railway line in northern Kosovo.
In February, some 150 Kosovo Serb police officers were suspended for refusing to take orders from the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Most EU states and the US have recognised Pristina's unilateral declaration of independence.
Serbia - backed by its ally Russia - says the move is illegal.
駐科索沃北部城市米特羅維察的聯合國警察與當地塞族居民發生衝突後，被迫撤出米特羅維察市的塞族居民區。
科索沃警方說，科索沃北部發生的一宗爆炸事件至少造成3名聯合國警察和兩名北約部隊士兵受傷。
這次爆炸發生在聯合國防暴警察和北約士兵在科索沃北部米特羅維察市與塞族示威者發生衝突期間。
當聯合國警察發射催淚彈試圖驅散那些扔石塊和汽油彈的示威人群時，保安部隊受到了槍擊。
BBC記者說，這是科索沃在2月17日單方面宣佈獨立以來發生的最嚴重的暴力事件。
早些時候，聯合國防暴警察突襲了科索沃北部一家聯合國法院，該法院自周五以來一直被塞爾維亞人強行佔領。
約100多名警察參加了科索沃北部米特羅維察市的突襲行動，重新奪回了法院，並逮捕了幾十名塞族人。
在凌晨的突襲行動展開後，一些塞族人開始在這家聯合國法院外聚集，警方後來發射催淚彈驅散人群。
科索沃塞族人和塞爾維亞人拒絕承認科索沃上月宣佈的獨立。
一些塞族人據報在米特羅維察市聯合國法院外與防暴警察發生衝突時受傷。
一輛運送被捕人員的警車遭到塞族人的襲擊，有幾名被拘人員成功逃脫。
很多在上周佔領這家法院的示威者是當科索沃戰爭在1999年結束時失去工作的前法院雇員，這家法院後來歸屬聯合國管轄。
塞族人已在這家法院外舉行了長達數周的抗議，阻止阿族法院雇員越過分隔米特羅維察市塞族居民區和阿族居民區的一座橋梁。
自科索沃在2月17日宣佈獨立以來，局勢日益緊張。
上周，塞族人試圖奪取科索沃北部的一條火車線的控制權。
今年2月，由於拒絕聽命於科索沃首府普裡什蒂納阿族人主導的警方高層，150名科索沃塞族警官已被停職。
大多數歐盟國家和美國已承認科索沃單方面宣佈的獨立。
塞爾維亞和盟國俄羅斯則說，科索沃獨立是非法的。
from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_7300000/newsid_7300200/7300228.stm
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