Seven injured as Bosnian Croat soccer fans rampage

SARAJEVO, June 14 (Reuters) One person was shot and six policemen were hurt when Bosnian Croat soccer fans clashed with Muslims and police in the southern city of Mostar after a World Cup game, police said.

Croats from the western part of Mostar stoned buildings and damaged cars in the square along the 1992-95 wartime frontline after watching Croatia lose 1-0 to Brazil in a World Cup match in Berlin yesterday, police said.

They clashed with youths from the Muslim side of the city in the square and riot police had to intervene to separate them, police said in a statement.

One person was seriously injured by gunfire and 26 people were arrested in the incident, it added.

Mostar was the scene of heavy fighting between Muslims and Croats in 1993. It remains divided. A great majority of Bosnian Croats view neighbouring Croatia as their homeland and support its national sports teams.

One Muslim woman was killed by celebratory fire from the western part of Mostar after Croatia beat Germany in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France.

REUTERS PM VV1532