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Kosovo’s prime minister on Sunday said one police officer was killed and another wounded in an attack he blamed on support from neighboring Serbia, increasing tensions between the two former war foes at a delicate moment in their European Union-facilitated dialogue to normalize ties.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said “masked professionals armed with heavy weapons” opened fire on a police patrol in the village of Banjska, in Leposavic municipality, 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of the capital Pristina at 3 a.m. (01:00 GMT).
Kosovo police said two trucks without license plates blocked a bridge at the entrance to the village. Three police units were sent to unblock it but came under fire from different positions with various weapons, including hand grenades and bombs.
Police managed to push back the attack and take two injured police officers to the hospital in southern Mitrovica.
One of them was dead on arrival, doctors said. The condition of the other is not life-threatening.
In a statement, the Kosovo Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church – which has several monasteries in the former Serbian province – said a group of masked men in an armored vehicle stormed the Banjska Monastery in the same village, breaking down the locked gate.
A group of pilgrims from the city of Novi Sad, in northern Serbia, is currently visiting the monastery, along with an abbot, the Rev. Danilo.
For safety, they locked themselves inside and the monastery’s temple is also locked down.
“Armed, masked men move around the courtyard and occasional gunshots are heard,” the diocese said.
Serbian Troops Put on Highest Alert After Ethnic Clashes in Kosovohttps://t.co/xoAnOZw3sk
Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 27, 2023
Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, have been at odds for decades. Their 1998-99 war left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 but Belgrade has refused to recognize the move.
Speaking after a meeting of the country’s Security Council Sunday, Kurti said it was a “sad day” for Kosovo and named the dead police officer as Afrim Bunjaku.
The prime minister displayed a set of photos which showed a number of four-wheel drive vehicles without license plates and an armored personnel carrier “which does not belong to the Kosovo police,” near the Orthodox monastery in Banjska.
