Three members of armed group die in clashes with police in Kosovo

O The statement, cited by the Koha Ditore newspaper in Pristina, states that the four detainees had plenty of weapons, ammunition and communication tools.

According to the Kosovar authorities, this is a group of at least 30 elements, supported by vehicles, who barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Banjska, in the north of Kosovo, where they engaged in a shootout with the police, who surrounded the area after a incident that occurred early in the morning.

“We have regained control of this area, after several battles,” said Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla during a press conference, indicating that the situation is calmer.

Tension increased early in the morning when a Kosovar police officer patrolling the area near the border with Serbia was killed in an attack carried out “with heavy weapons, including grenades” that left another injured, according to police.

Kosovo authorities immediately accused Serbia of being involved in what happened.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade refuses to recognize the independence of its former province, whose population of 1.8 million inhabitants, the vast majority of Albanian origin, includes a Serbian community of around 120,000 people, which they live mainly in the north of Kosovo.

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