PRISTINA/BELGRADE: The main political party representing Serbs in northern Kosovo declared three days of mourning on Tuesday for people killed in a gunbattle with Kosovo police, after the worst violence for years in the contested area.
Kosovo authorities say around 30 heavily armed Serbs stormed the village of Banjska on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves into a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Police recaptured the monastery late on Sunday after three attackers and one police officer were killed.
No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack or explain the motives of the gunmen. Kosovo has accused Serbia of backing the armed militants; Serbia says Kosovo is to blame for mistreating residents in the Serb-majority area. “September 26, 27 and 28 are being proclaimed days of mourning due to the killing of our fellow citizens in the tragic events in Banjska village,” the Serb List party said, declaring that all entertainment would be cancelled and flags lowered to half staff.
“On behalf of the Serb List and Serbian people of Kosovo we express our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and we wish a swift recovery to those wounded.”
Two Serbs captured in the gunbattle appeared in court on Tuesday for a hearing in Kosovo’s capital Pristina, escorted in handcuffs by heavily armed police.
Dejan A. Vasic, a lawyer who represents Dusan Maksimovic, a suspect in the shooting, said he planned to appeal against the 30-day detention given to his client.
“We have pointed out some facts … which show that this is something which is perhaps more of a misunderstanding than something that could be related to a crime,” Vasic told reporters in Pristina. –Agencies
