Nobody Escapes From This Cage

Elements of the German Maneuver Battalion's 1st, 3rd and 4th Company plus Military Police, PsyOps, EW, EOD and a Medical Battalion team - totaling over 100 soldiers plus guard dogs – are on the move. 500 meters outside the village, one of the Dingos suddenly turns off and takes up position alongside the road. Two soldiers provide security. Now everything happens at lightning speed. At the crossroads just outside Toplicane, the bulk of the vehicles get off the road, while a single Dingo continues to move on. Another Dingo blocks off the civilian vehicles behind the column. A soldier orders these vehicles to stop off the road. The "Toplicane-Lesjan-Siroko Cage" is now set-up, and the "exits" are closed. Operation "Yellow Canary" has just started.

As in a real cage 29 vehicles, including many small trucks, are lined up beside the road. No one can move ahead or turn back anymore. Each of the vehicles and every one of the 52 persons is frisked and their IDs are checked. Captain Gunnar W., the officer in charge of the operation, provides details: "Two vehicles tried to escape the check by turning around on the road and are now being picked up by elements of the outer ring." The operation also includes policemen of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS). One group of five to six vehicles at a time is ordered into the actual checking zone. The small trucks move at walking speed to a next stop where they, too, are subjected to a search. State-of-the-art technology is used in the checks, including transportable x-ray sets, but also ten thousands of years-old natural skills as in the case of the guard dog "Spoke". Staff Sergeant (OR-6) Tobias K. explains: "Often, the sign and body language of a person is enough to show that something fishy is going on." As is the case of the suspect bundle of 15,000 euros in small denominations that the driver of a BMW station wagon registered in Great Britain carries along. The interpreter moves onto action and translates the questions of the checkers. The explanation for the big amount of money is in the boot of the car: construction plans for a single-family house. The money is intended to be used to buy construction materials.

The drivers' behavior behind the wheel on the main road is not the slightest bit better than in Germany after a mass collision. Cars creep along, and rubbernecks are aplenty; an aged Ford Focus brakes abruptly before slamming into the rear bumper of the car in front of it. Suddenly, a soldier gives a sign that pictures of the operation are being taken from the inside of a silver-gray van—a possible act of espionage. No doubt is permitted: This vehicle is ordered off the road immediately and subjected to a search, and the IDs of the four passengers are checked. The soldiers are sensitized: Already during the preceding cage operation on Thursday morning, the driver of an Opel had taken several pictures with a camera-equipped mobile phone and had been ordered to delete them. Likewise, in the morning a VW Golf parked inside the cage had been searched by military police and EOD personnel. Inside the car, a bayonet was found - a thrust weapon that is illegal in Kosovo. The owner of the car had already been investigated by the police several times in the past. KFOR's mission is clear: Maintain a safe and secure environment.

(Story by Captain Michael Schur)