It was during the night of Sunday that a police patrol was ambushed at a roadblock outside the town of Banjska in northern Kosovo. One policeman died and another was injured when they were attacked with, among other things, hand grenades. Then around 30 armed men besieged a monastery in the nearby village of Leposavic. At least four of the attackers died in firefights with Kosovo police on Sunday. Since then, six people have been arrested and police are demanding the extradition of another six people from Serbia, where they are believed to have fled.
Described as terrorist attack
It is still unclear who is behind the attack, but Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti describes it as terrorism carried out by professionals with the support of Belgrade:
– We condemn this criminal terrorist attack. Organized crime with political, financial and logistical support from Belgrade is attacking our state.
Serbia: Albin Kurtis is to blame
In a speech on Sunday evening, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic lamented the death of the Kosovo policeman, while denying involvement. According to him, local Kosovo Serbs are behind the attack, who “do not want to endure Kurti’s terror anymore”.
– He abandoned people, and at the same time continued to provoke them. I regret that some Serbs succumbed to these provocations. Albin Kurti is the only one to blame.
Serious escalation
The incident marks the most serious escalation of violence in the region since 2011 and comes after a long period of deteriorating relations. Around 90% of the Kosovo Serb police in northern Kosovo resigned from their jobs last autumn in protest against the regime in Pristina. And this spring, unrest broke out after Pristina forcefully installed newly elected mayors in municipalities where Kosovo Serbs had boycotted the elections.
Around 30 people from the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR were injured in the violence that followed.