The worst escalation of violence in a long time has occurred in northern Kosovo. According to the government, 30 armed and masked men opened fire on Kosovo police officers in a village not far from the border with Serbia on Sunday. One officer was killed and another was injured. The attackers then reportedly occupied a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke of a terrorist attack carried out by criminals sponsored by Serbia.
The incident dragged on for hours. According to the police, two trucks initially took up position on a bridge in the village of Banjska, which is about 15 kilometers from the Serbian border, blocking access. When the police arrived and wanted to examine the vehicles, the officers came under fire.
Later, masked men in an armored vehicle forced their way onto the monastery grounds near Banjska, as the diocese of Raszien-Prizren announced. Priests and pilgrims barricaded themselves inside. Shots were fired. Kosovo police said three attackers were killed in the fighting. An attacker and several suspected helpers were arrested. In the afternoon, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Kurti said the police had surrounded the attackers in the monastery and asked them to surrender.
This image released by police purports to show a group of armed, masked men in front of the Banjska monastery they are occupying.
(Photo: -/KOSOVO POLICE/AP/dpa)
According to local media, the border police also sealed off two crossings into Serbia. The information could not be independently verified. The government in Pristina assumes that neighboring Serbia sent the irregular militiamen. There is no statement yet from the Serbian authorities.
The head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Caroline Ziadeh, strongly condemned the incident. A reporter from the Reuters news agency who was on site reported that NATO soldiers, together with members of the EU Eulex mission and Kosovar police officers, were patrolling the road leading to Banjska.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. This is recognized by many states, including Germany, but not by the government in Belgrade and the Serbian minority in Kosovo. More than 90 percent of Kosovo’s population are ethnic Albanians. In the north of the country, however, Serbs make up the majority.
NATO has stationed around 4,000 soldiers in the Balkan country to ensure peace. The EU is trying to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, both of which are aspiring to join the EU. Recently, however, tensions have increased again, among other things because ethnic Albanians were appointed mayors in some Serb-majority communities in northern Kosovo. There were serious riots in the area in May. Around 50 Serbian demonstrators and more than 90 NATO soldiers were injured.