BELGRADE, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Kosovo Serb protesters clashed on Sunday with the local police, leaving more than 20 people injured, local media reported.

    At least 14 Serbs and five police officers were injured in the eastern Kosovo village of Silovo where police tried to stop several hundred Serb protesters from blocking a main road, the official Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

    Ethnic Serbs tried to break the police cordon in several places in an attempt to block the Gnjilane-Bujanovac road in order to draw public attention to the fact that their electricity supply had been cut off for a week.

    Zoran Dimeski, doctor on duty at the Silovo hospital, told Tanjug that six Serbs had sustained serious injuries, adding that three of them had been sent to Gracanica for further treatment while the other three remained at Silovo hospital.

    "Those with serious injuries were injured to the head and body. The other eight people with light injuries have hematoma on the head and arms and legs and were released home after treatment," Dimeski said.

    Local Serb official Aleksandar Petrovic accused the police of causing the incident by provoking the protesters.

    Kosovo police spokesman Arber Beka told Tanjug that the five police officers had been injured by stones thrown by the Serb protesters.

    "Police arrested two Kosovo Serbs because of violent behavior and were forced to use tear gas during the protest," Beka said.

    Tanjug reported that the Silovo villagers have not had electricity for seven days due to a malfunction in the electric power grid, which is why they have decided to hold protests to demand that the Kosovo Electric Power Corporation repair the grid.

    However, other reports indicated that Kosovo's power company cut off electricity in Silovo because of unpaid bills that date back to 1999.

    Local media said that after the incident local Serb representatives went to the Gnjilane mayor for talks in an attempt to resolve the power outage situation.

    Kosovo police and the Kosovo international peacekeepers were stationed outside the village, while about 100 local Serbs have resumed the protest, asking that power be restored in Silovo, the largest Kosovo Serb village inhabited by about 1,500 people.

    Dominated by ethnic Albanian majority, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February last year despite strong opposition from Serbia and Kosovo Serbs, who make up some 6 percent of the 2 million population.