This is reported by AFP, which quotes Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti. It is only hours since one policeman was killed and another wounded in an armed attack on a patrol in northern Kosovo early Sunday morning, according to Kosovo authorities. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has condemned the attack and called it an act of terrorism. 30 men surrounded – The people behind the attack were professionals, wore masks and were heavily armed, he writes in social media. He also claimed that Serbian authorities had a hand in the attack. Just before 1:00 p.m. Norwegian time, there was a report that around 30 armed men were surrounded. – There are at least 30 professional men, either military or police officers. They are armed and surrounded by our police forces. I urge them to surrender to our security agencies, the prime minister said during a press conference, according to AFP. The Serbian newspaper Blic writes that the armed men have entered a monastery outside the village of Banjska, where they have entrenched themselves surrounded by police forces from Kosovo. According to a message from the Serbian Orthodox Church, the men must have been masked and heavily armed. They are said to have driven down the gate of the monastery with an armored car. According to the monks who live in the monastery, the armed men are moving around the castle yard, and several shots are said to have been fired. This photo is supposed to show the armed men who attacked police forces from Kosovo last night. The pictures were presented at a press conference by Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Sunday afternoon. The images have not been verified by independent sources. Photo: Kosovo authorities Claim Serbian authorities are involved Kosovo President Vjosa Osma claims that the night’s shooting was staged by “Serbian criminal gangs”. She believes it is an attack on law and order and “against the sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo”. She condemns what she calls “open aggression by Serbia against Kosovo” and called on the country’s allies to help Kosovo establish law and order. The president of the Serbian National Assembly, for his part, has been out in the Serbian media and blamed Kosovo. Vladimir Orlić believes that it is the Prime Minister of Kosovo who staged the attack. – If we are to talk about who is really responsible for the violence, it is Albin Kurti. And everyone knows that. The last few months’ brutal terror against innocent Serbs has happened precisely because of this: He wanted to escalate the conflict, says Orlić to the Serbian newspaper Blic. Unrest flared up The unrest in northern Kosovo flared up in May, after a local election in which Kosovo Albanian mayors were elected in several areas that have a preponderance of Serbian residents. It happened after the Serbian part of the population boycotted the local elections, and turnout was just over three percent. Police and military forces in Josevik in Kosovo on Sunday. Photo: FATOS BYTYCI / Reuters Nato sent an additional 700 soldiers to Kosovo to deal with the post-election turmoil. Around 30 NATO soldiers and over 50 Serbian protesters were injured in the ensuing clashes. The latest EU-led peace talks broke down last week. The EU’s foreign policy leader Josep Borrell accused Albin Kurti of not having ensured the establishment of municipalities with local self-government in the areas with a preponderance of Serbs, writes the BBC.
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Claims that fighting is ongoing in northern Kosovo – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
