SERBIA’S army has cut the number of troops stationed on its border with Kosovo by nearly half, a top military official said today following Western criticism of a mass military build-up.

Troop numbers are now at their “regular” level of some 4,500 soldiers, Serbian army chief-of-staff Milan Mojsilovic said, reduced from 8,350 in the wake of shootings last week that killed four people and raised fears of escalating violence in the region.

Heavily armed Serbian gunmen and Kosovo police had clashed in northern Kosovo on September 24.