"Over the past months, the level and frequency of attacks on humanitarian staff, damage to vehicles, and threat to humanitarian operations in north Mitrovica has been totally unacceptable." Dennis McNamara, UNHCR Special Envoy said in a statement released today in Kosovo's capital Pristina. "As we made clear last month, we are not prepared to continue to have the safety of our own staff and our agency partners put in constant jeopardy."

The initial 48-hour suspension period began at midnight on Thursday, 22 June. All UNHCR staff and vehicles have been relocated to the south and the UNHCR office closed in northern Mitrovica. The suspension will be reviewed after the initial 48-hour period following assessments of the security situation on the ground with the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), UN Police, the KFOR security force and field staff. UNHCR is also requesting that Mr. Oliver Ivanovic, self-proclaimed leader of northern Mitrovica, publicly denounce this violence and to take more vigorous action to prevent it from recurring.

Since 2 February, when a clearly-marked UNHCR bus was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade, five UNHCR vehicles have been burned and two others badly damaged. UNHCR and international and local staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been threatened and in some cases had to be evacuated from extremely dangerous, life-threatening situations. Yesterday, these attacks continued despite a well-coordinated response by both KFOR and UNMIK, with at least five vehicles totally destroyed, over 20 vehicles damaged, six separate reported attacks on UN international residences in north Mitrovica and the physical assault of an international aid worker.