Ljubljana - A Slovenian soldier serving as a peacekeeper in Kosovo was killed Tuesday in a firearm incident, the ministry of defence said in Ljubljana. The incident was under investigation, but its circumstances did not initially "imply the involvement of another person in the event," the ministry said on its internet site.
NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to force the pullout of its forces from Kosovo in order to end a brutal crackdown on the majority Albanian population.
The NATO-led peacekeeping mission, KFOR, was deployed in Kosovo in June that year. A contingent from Slovenia joined KFOR in 2000, four years before the country joined NATO.
In 2007 Slovenia deployed a battalion-level unit to Kosovo, which last year declared independence from Serbia and was meanwhile recognized by the United States and most European Union nations.
