From the AP:  NATO is suspending the training of Kosovo’s security troops after a military-style parade that broke the force’s agreement to focus only on civil emergencies, it said Sunday.

The alliance called off its support for the 2,500-strong Kosovo Security Force following the appearance of an armed honor guard at a parade on Friday marking the 12th anniversary of the killing of the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian rebel force that fought Serbia in 1998-99.

The parade appearance was "inconsistent with (its) non-military status," NATO said in a statement. Kosovo’s force was set up last year with a role limited to civil emergencies as part of a plan that allowed Kosovo to secede from Serbia. It replaced a similar force made up mostly of former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

The alliance, which has pledged to provide training and supply weapons for the force, said the suspension would continue until it received an explanation of the incident, remedial action and guarantees that such incidents would be avoided in the future.  (photo: RTK)

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