Border troops on alert

Serbian troops on the border with Kosovo are on high alert following clashes in Kosovo between police and ethnic Serbs that injured more than a dozen people. Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, who are a majority in that part of the country, had tried to block recently elected ethnic Albanian officials from entering municipal buildings on Friday. Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and let the new officials in. Several cars were set ablaze. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had put the army on the ‘‘highest state of alert’’ and ordered an ‘‘urgent’’ movement of troops closer to the border. He also demanded that Nato-led troops stationed in Kosovo protect ethnic Serbs from the police.