Mourning day in Kosovo, situation remains tense

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani declared Sept. 25 a day of mourning in honor of Afrim Bunjaku, a police sergeant killed in the north. The police sergeant was killed Sept. 24 after an armed attack in the Serb-majority village of Banjska in Zvecan.

Sunday’s shooting began around 3 a.m. after police said they had arrived at the village of Banjska, where a blockade had been reported.

The officers were attacked from several positions with an arsenal of firearms, including grenades and hand grenades. A group of about 30 then entered the monastery complex in nearby Leposavic, where pilgrims from the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad were staying. At least three of the gunmen were killed by Kosovo police on Sunday as police launched an operation to clean up criminal gangs. Police later said in a statement that at least three attackers had been killed and one arrested. Four other civilian suspects carrying radios and weapons were also arrested.

Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla said those killed were part of the paramilitary group “Civil Protection”, which was declared a terrorist group along with other criminal groups by the Pristina government some time ago. Sveçla said police made several arrests during the operation and seized a large amount of weapons and equipment.

However, it remained unclear whether all the armed men were captured during the operation.

Under Kosovar law, government authorities are not allowed to enter Orthodox properties, including churches and monasteries, without first obtaining permission from the Serbian Orthodox Church.

“We have brought this area under control. This happened after several successive battles,” Sveçla said.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the group of at least 30 heavily armed men was surrounded by authorities near the village of Banjska, where the patrol was ambushed earlier Sunday. “There are at least 30 professional, military or police armed men who are surrounded by our police forces and I call on them to surrender to our security authorities.”

Kurti’s comments at the press conference came hours after he called a terrorist act an ambush that killed one police officer and injured two others, and blamed the Serbian government.

“Organized crime with political, financial and logistical support from officials in Belgrade is attacking our country,” Kurti wrote on social media.

The Serbian Orthodox Church confirmed that armed men had attacked a monastery in Banjska where pilgrims from Novi Sad were staying.

“We can see armed people in uniforms … They are shooting at us and we are shooting,” Kosovo police officer Veton Elshani told AFP.

The NATO-led KFOR mission said its forces were present in the area and “ready to respond if needed.”

In its latest statement, Kosovo police said the security situation in the Banjska village area “remains tense” as “attacks with firearms on police units continue with the same intensity.” Police announced that they had found logistical equipment, suspected military vehicles, military uniforms, and weapons and ammunition of various calibers in a residential area used by the attackers.

“The Kosovo Police continue to call on criminal groups to surrender to judicial authorities, while urging citizens to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the interest of calming the situation and general security,” the communiqué says.

The incident represents a serious escalation in a region already prone to unrest. Kosovo is majority Albanian, but like other villages in the north, Banjska is predominantly Serb.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia considers Kosovo a breakaway state. Kosovo Serbs consider themselves part of Serbia and see Belgrade rather than Pristina as their capital.

“We see armed people with uniforms and heavy weapons. They shoot at us, we shoot,” said Veton Elshani, deputy commander of Kosovo police for the northern region, according to CNN’s N1 division.

The attack and subsequent firefights represent one of the worst escalations in Kosovo in years and are a result of months of rising tensions between Pristina and Belgrade.

Tensions in Kosovo have increased following violent clashes in the wake of disputed local elections in May and stalled EU-brokered political talks aimed at stabilizing the situation.

NATO deployed 700 additional troops to Kosovo to quell post-election unrest in the northern town of Zvecan. Some 30 NATO peacekeepers and more than 50 Serb protesters were injured in the ensuing clashes.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia – as well as Belgrade’s main allies China and Russia – does not recognize it./The Geopost/