(Banjska) Kosovar law enforcement regained control on Sunday of the monastery in the north of the country where around thirty armed men had holed up for several hours, after the death of a police officer in the night and a renewed outbreak of violence. tensions between Pristina and Belgrade, which denied any responsibility.
“We have regained control of this area,” Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla said at a press conference. Three attackers were killed and two men in “uniform” injured, he said without further details.
Earlier, police said that four civilians were also “arrested in possession of radio communication tools” and that a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized.
Tensions began before dawn, when a Kosovar police officer patrolling near the border with Serbia was killed in an attack on his unit, and one of his colleagues injured.
Armed men then took refuge in the middle of the day in the Banjska monastery, surrounded by police forces with whom exchanges of fire took place.
Inside was a group of pilgrims from Novi Sad – in Serbia – who hid when these masked men “stormed the monastery in an armored vehicle, and forced the door,” according to the diocese.
The policeman’s death triggered immediate reactions from Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and President, Vjosa Osmani, who pointed the finger at Serbia. Mr. Kurti accused “Belgrade officials” of offering logistical and financial support “to organized crime,” and Mr.me Osmani certified that “these attacks prove, if it were still necessary, the destabilizing power of criminal gangs, organized by Serbia”.
In the evening, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied any Serbian responsibility for the situation in northern Kosovo, affirming that the attackers were Kosovo Serbs.
“I don’t want to justify the death of an Albanian – and it’s not justifiable. This must be condemned,” Mr. Vucic said. But “the only culprit of everything that happens to northern Kosovo […] it’s Albin Kurti. He constantly provokes, and I am sorry that some Serbs gave in to his provocations.”
To “those who think this will push Serbia to recognize Kosovo,” Mr. Vucic added, “I say that this has not only strengthened me, but the whole nation, and that we will never recognize independence of Kosovo, even if you kill us all.”
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO helped push Serbian forces out of the former province in a bloody war that left around 13,000 people dead. most of Albanian origin.
Serbia, supported in particular by its Russian and Chinese allies, has since refused to recognize the independence of Kosovo, where a Serbian community of around 120,000 people lives. Located mainly in the north, some of its members refuse all allegiance to Pristina.
The region has since been the scene of recurring violence, the latest dating back to the spring, when the Kosovar authorities decided to appoint Albanian mayors in four municipalities with a Serbian majority.
The measure sparked major protests, the arrest of three Kosovar police officers by Serbia and a riot by Serbian demonstrators that left more than 30 members of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) injured. .
The international community urges both parties to de-escalate. But the latest attempts at discussions between Albin Kurti and Aleksandar Vucic failed in mid-September after just a few hours.
Serbia wishes, as a prerequisite for any discussion, to obtain a form of association of Serbian communities in the north, while the Kosovar side has as a prerequisite recognition by Belgrade of the independence of Kosovo.