PRISTINA – Kosovo’s high minister on Sunday stated one police officer was once killed and any other wounded in an attack he blamed on give a boost to from neighboring Serbia, expanding tensions between the two former battle foes at a gentle second in their European Union-facilitated discussion to normalize ties.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated “masked professionals armed with heavy weapons” opened hearth on a police patrol in the village of Banjska, Leposavic, 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of the capital Pristina at 3 a.m. (01:00 GMT), killing one officer and injuring any other, whose situation isn’t life-threatening.
Kosovo police stated two vehicles with no license plates had blocked a bridge at the front of the village. Three police devices have been despatched to unblock it however got here beneath hearth from other positions with other guns, hand grenades and bombs.
Police controlled to ward off the attack and take two injured police officials at the medical institution in southern Mitrovica.
One of them was once lifeless on arrival, docs stated.
The space round Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, is the place maximum of the nation’s ethnic Serb minority lives, in 4 municipalities.
“Organized crime, which is politically, financially and logistically supported from Belgrade, is attacking our state,” Kurti wrote on his Facebook web page.
Kurti stated that gunfire towards police with other guns was once ongoing.
“The government of the Republic of Kosovo and its state institutions are ready and coordinated to respond to crime and criminals, terror and terrorists,” he stated.
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani, who’s in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, denounced the killing and the “attacks against the Republic of Kosovo’s sovereignty.”
“Such attacks testify once again the destabilizing power of the criminal bands organized from Serbia which for a long time .. are destabilizing Kosovo and the region,” she stated.
The United States’ ambassador in Pristina “strongly condemns the orchestrated, violent attacks on the Kosovo Police this morning” in a remark, including that “the Kosovo Police has full and legitimate responsibility for enforcing the rule of law according to the constitution and laws of Kosovo.”
“The perpetrators must and will be held accountable and brought to justice. They should immediately cease their attacks,” he stated.
(*1*) assembly in Brussels between Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ended in acrimony.
Washington has absolutely supported the negotiations and the stance of the EU.
In February, the EU put forward a 10-point plan to finish months of political crises. Kurti and Vucic gave their approval at the time, however with some reservations that experience nonetheless now not been resolved.
The EU warned each nations that the commitments that Serbia and Kosovo made in February “are binding on them and play a role in the European path of the parties,” which refers to their probabilities of becoming a member of the 27-nation bloc.
In May tensions in northern Kosovo left 93 peacekeepers harm in riots.
Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, were at odds for many years. Their 1998-99 war left greater than 10,000 other people lifeless, most commonly Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 however Belgrade has refused to acknowledge the transfer.
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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
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