Albania sends 1st troops to NATO-led mission in Kosovo

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania said on Friday it is sending a military contingent as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in neighboring Kosovo.

A Defense Ministry statement said that a contingent of 30 commandos of Albania’s armed forces would join Italian and Croatian KFOR troops in the city of Peja, 85 kilometers (53 miles) west of the capital, Pristina.

Albania joined NATO in 2009 and has taken part in many missions around the world. The KFOR mission in Kosovo involves some 4,000 troops from 28 countries.

NATO troops have been present in Kosovo since 1999 after a bloody war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that ended with a 78-day NATO air campaign.