dpa
Pristina
An unidentified combat group with military equipment entered northern Kosovo and ended up in a firefight with police, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday.
"There are at least 30 men, heavily armed, uniformed, professional military or police, who are surrounded by our police forces in the village of Banjska,” said Kurti, who called on the men to surrender in comments carried by local media.
Kosovo’s Interior Ministry said that one officer was killed and at least one other injured in the shooting when Kosovan police officers ended up in a skirmish with the group in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The police surrounded the approximately 30 intruders in the village of Banjska.
According to Kosovan police, three attackers were killed in the fighting. Police arrested one attacker and several suspected volunteers.
The government in Pristina assumes that neighbouring Serbia sent the irregular militiamen.
The Interior Ministry said the attackers appeared to have laid an ambush for the police officers, who came under fire while investigating two lorries without licence plates that had been parked on a bridge to block access to Banjska near the town of Mitrovica.
The group presumably entered the northern part of Kosovo, which is populated almost entirely by ethnic Serbs, from neighbouring Serbia.
Kurti called it an attack on the state of Kosovo and said Serbia bears responsibility.
Kurti said that the squad had jeeps and even an armoured transport vehicle. The attackers used rifle grenades and hand grenades in addition to rapid-fire rifles in the early morning skirmish. The Kosovan government released pictures showing men with infantry combat weapons and bulletproof vests, as well as a jeep and an armoured transport vehicle.
The walls of the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Banjska, where the intruders were operating, can also be seen. The diocese in charge confirmed on Sunday that masked gunmen entered the monastery complex with vehicles.
According to the report, the monks living there as well as some pilgrims have locked themselves inside the monastery building. The deadly clash appears to be the most serious incident in years in the tense, sometimes violent relationship between Kosovo and Serbia.
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, quickly spoke out against the attack in Kosovo on Sunday: "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the hideous attack by an armed gang against Kosovo Police officers.”
"All facts about the attack need to be established. The responsible perpetrators must face justice,” he said.
The EU’s rule of law mission EULEX is in contact with authorities and NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, Borrell said, renewing calls from the EU and member states to de-escalate tensions in the north of Kosovo.
"More innocent lives are at risk in ongoing hostilities in the surroundings of Banjska Monastery. These attacks must stop immediately,” Borrell said.
Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 1999 with NATO assistance after fighting an armed conflict. The country, which is mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, declared independence in 2008. More than 100 countries recognize the state of Kosovo. Serbia, however, has refused to recognize Kosovo’s independence and has demanded the return of what it considers a breakaway province.