Telekom, a Serbian telecommunications company, has announced that the employees of the Kosovo Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) destroyed 2 mobile telephony base stations on Friday morning, while nine others were dismantled and all of the equipment confiscated.

The base stations in the villages Gusterica and Plemetina were destroyed, while those in Susica, Babin Most, Ranilug, Vrbovac, Novo Brdo, Rekovac and three stations in Pec were dismantled.

The dismantled stations are main hubs for signal distribution towards other stations, which is why another 14 stations are also out of action, resulting in signal loss for the population in central and eastern Kosovo, as well as in Metohija.

The signal only reaches the users in northern Kosovo right now, and the damage will be assessed in the coming days.

Telekom states that there is no justification for denying the right to communication, be it to the Serb or ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo, or for any destruction of property, and it called on the authorities to protect the interest of the company and its users.

Representatives of the TRA dismantled 14 cell and landline base stations owned by Telekom Serbia, Telenor and VIP on Friday, and announced the remaining 10 will be dismantled on Saturday, said Kosovo Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Nenad Rasic.

He said he talked with the TRA management Friday and asked them to stop cutting cables and disconnecting antennas.

"I asked for compromise and a stop to the destruction of the telecommunications system," Rasic told Tanjug, but added that the TRA informed him they will proceed with the dismantling of the ten remaining base stations on Saturday.

Since Telekom Kosovo workers, accompanied by special Kosovo police units, started cutting cables and removing antennas Friday morning, 064, 063 and 061 network coverage has been disrupted in parts of central Kosovo and the area around Gnjilane.

These are majority Serb communities with a population of around 80,000.

Rasic pointed out that the TRA informed him it was determined to eliminate all unlicensed cell phone service providers in Kosovo.

The disruption in the coverage of cell phone carriers based in Serbia has crippled emergency medical services in Serb communities in central and other parts of Kosovo, as they are unable to receive calls from patients or communicate with ambulances or hospitals.

The TRA said Friday that it has taken action to "put an end to the illegal operation of unlicensed and unauthorized providers" that have built networks in Kosovo.

The operation was conducted in cooperation with the legal authorities in order to enact existing legislation and create conditions for the normal operation of licensed cell phone service providers, the TRA said in its statement.

TRA representatives will hold a news conference in Pristina on Monday.

The TRA statement does not identify the "unlicensed providers" in question.