Eight individuals have been arrested in raids following a number of assaults in northern Kosovo. An arsenal of weapons was additionally seized. Prime Minister Kurti speaks of an act of terrorism managed by Belgrade.
There have been a sequence of assaults in northern Kosovo. Eight Kosovo Serb suspects have been arrested. They are accused of attacking a police station, a city corridor and a water canal with explosive gadgets.
At a press convention, Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla and Police Director Gazmend Hoxha offered an arsenal of weapons discovered throughout raids in ten totally different areas, together with uniforms, a rocket launcher, hand grenades and firearms. Svecla accuses these arrested of being a part of a terrorist group and of finishing up the assaults.
Multiple incidents all through the week
On Tuesday this week, two hand grenades exploded on the premises of a Kosovo Police station within the predominantly Serb-inhabited city of Zvecan. On Friday night time there was an explosion at Zvecan city corridor, which broken the constructing and 4 parked automobiles.
On Saturday night time, a gap was blown into the concrete wall of the Ibar-Lepenac Canal in order that water leaked out. As a outcome, some Serbian and Albanian populated areas, together with Mitrovica, had no consuming water and there have been repeated energy outages as a result of the water from the canal was used to chill an vital energy plant in Kosovo.
The head of presidency speaks of an act of terrorism
Prime Minister Albin Kurti described the most recent incident as a Belgrade-controlled act of terrorism. “The attack was carried out by professionals. It is the next criminal and terrorist attack that we believe comes from gangs orchestrated and directed by Serbia,” Kurti mentioned.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic helps these legal constructions. Kurti mentioned that there’s “the interest, the willingness and the ability to cause such attacks and damage” on the Serbian aspect, which can also be mirrored in using massive quantities of explosives within the present case.
Kurti additionally referred to Milan Radojcic, the Kosovo-Serbian businessman who claimed accountability for a severe incident in September 2023. At that point, a 30-member, closely armed Serbian commando group had taken up positions in Banjska close to Mitrovica in northern Kosovo and fought battles with the Kosovo police. Radojcic fled to Serbia and was not held criminally accountable there.
Serbia’s President factors out Accusations again
Serbian President Vucic described the accusations as unfounded, “premature and without evidence,” his celebration mentioned. This is irresponsible and endangers peace and stability within the area. He known as for an neutral investigation with the participation of worldwide companions.
Kosovo’s ethnic Serb celebration, Srpska Lista, condemned the injury to the canal and known as for an investigation by the NATO-led peacekeeping power KFOR and the EU rule of regulation mission Eulex.
Serbia doesn’t acknowledge Kosovo’s independence
Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia proceed regardless of worldwide makes an attempt at mediation. Kosovo, which is now inhabited nearly solely by Albanians, seceded from Serbia in 1999 with NATO assist and declared independence in 2008. More than 100 international locations, together with Germany, acknowledge independence. However, Serbia has nonetheless not come to phrases with the lack of its former province and is demanding it again for itself.
With data from Oliver Soos, ARD Vienna
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/kosovo-explosion-festnahmen-100.html