Hovenier: The sophisticated weapons used by the group in Banjska require a state structure, they cannot be bought on the local market

U.S. Ambassador in Kosovo Jeff Hovenier said it is known so far that the weapons used by the terrorist group that attacked Kosovo in the north on September 24 require a state structure and cannot be bought on the local market. Hovenier reiterated that the attack was not spontaneous, but that there were still things to understand.

“There are some things that we know. We know that this group of people was not spontaneous. These individuals, who, as far as we know, were all ethnic Serbs, had access to and possessed sophisticated weapons that cannot be purchased on the local market. You need a structure, usually a government structure, to supply them with these weapons. We know that most of the material they left behind was of Serbian origin. We know that Milan Radoicic, the vice president of the Serbian List, made a public statement through his lawyer accepting responsibility and saying that he organized and participated in the attack. These are things that we know and we are trying to understand more about the attack. We know that this cannot just happen spontaneously. So, as I said, there were structures or organizations behind it. “We’re still trying to figure out exactly how it worked,” Hovenier said in an interview with VOA.

The United States of America also demonstrated its commitment to Kosovo today. They donated seven drones to the Kosovo Police on Wednesday, whose deployment is aimed at increasing public security in the country.

U.S. Ambassador Hovenier said during a ceremony that the speed with which drones can be sent to where they are needed makes them useful life-saving devices.

The drones were donated to Kosovo police about three weeks after an attack by a group of armed Serbs in the northern village of Banjska in which a policeman was killed. Three attackers were also killed in the clashes, raising concerns about stability in the region.

“Given the level of criminal activity by organized crime groups in the region, these drone systems will be an essential resource for law enforcement in Kosovo to combat criminal activity on the ground and in the air,” said Amb. Hovenier.

Kosovo Police Director Gazmend Hoxha said the drones were selected by Kosovo Police experts in cooperation with U.S. government experts.

He said today’s donations “will have a positive impact on improving the police’s capacity to manage situations on the ground, such as managing large-scale events like protests, concerts, public demonstrations, as well as Kosovo surveillance borders and in operations of other aspects of the investigations that the Kosovo Police will conduct in the future.

U.S. Ambassador Hovenier stressed that today’s donation reflects the U.S. commitment to the development of the Kosovo Police.

“And it is an additional expression of the confidence we have in the Republic of Kosovo to conduct independent missions in the war on drugs and law enforcement,” the U.S. ambassador said, stressing that the United States has done so over the past five years donating more than 20 million dollars in aid to modernize and improve law enforcement in Kosovo./The Geopost/