British Battalion to Help Keep Kosovo Peace

Britain is to deploy a battalion of 600 soldiers to Kosovo to help Nato maintain peace in the newly independent Balkan state, Des Browne, the defence secretary, confirmed yesterday. Under an agreement first reported by the Guardian last week, the troops from 2nd Battalion the Rifles will stay in Kosovo throughout June.

Since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February the security situation had remained "tense" with "sporadic incidents of violence", Browne told MPs in a written Commons statement. The British deployment is the result of a request from Nato for help in dealing with potentially violent clashes between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and the minority Serbian population.

"The Nato Kosovo Force (Kfor), in cooperation with the UN international police authorities, are working hard to address this and to maintain a safe and secure environment," Browne said.

The UK is responsible for providing a standby operational reserve force for the Balkans for the first six months of this year. Browne said 2 Rifles - based in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland - had been "trained specifically for this requirement".

Lt Col Rob Thomson, the battalion's commander, said the "historic" deployment was the first time Northern Ireland-based soldiers have been sent to another trouble spot since the end of nearly 40 years of the Troubles.

Browne told MPs: "This deployment will demonstrate our commitment to the security of the region." Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said the deployment would stretch the army to its limits.