{"id":187307,"date":"2023-09-24T19:08:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T19:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=187307"},"modified":"2023-09-24T19:08:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T19:08:42","slug":"serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/","title":{"rendered":"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>&#8216;Serbia-backed&#8217; masked gunmen in armoured vehicles storm village in Kosovo, killing police officer and wounding another in string of deadly shootouts amid tensions between the two Balkan neighbours<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The attack in the small Kosovo village was allegedly back by Serbia, according to the country&#8217;s leadership\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It comes amid heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A police officer was killed while another was left injured after &#8216;masked professionals armed with heavy weapons&#8217; allegedly backed by Serbia opened fire on a patrol in a small Kosovo village in the early hours of Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister of the conflict-ridden eastern European country, Abin Kurti, accused Serbia of backing a group of around 30 gunmen who opened fire on a police patrol in the village of Banjska, 35 miles north of Kosovo&#8217;s capital Pristina.<\/p>\n<p>Local police said that three of the assailants were killed during the spat, which saw three police units being dispatched to a bridge at the entrance of the village, which lies close to Kosovo&#8217;s border with Serbia, that was being blocked off by two trucks with no licence plates.<\/p>\n<p>Responding officers said they came under fire from weapons that included hand grenades and bombs, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784605-12555281-image-a-1_1695576593571.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Local cops and military figures were seen patrolling the area as the shooting took place<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784639-12555281-image-a-2_1695576606977.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>One cop was killed, while another was left injured, during the shooting in the small Kosovo village<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784611-12555281-image-a-3_1695576611333.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Armed unidentified gunmen were seen in the area in the small hours of Sunday morning<\/p>\n<p>Sporadic shooting took place over 12 hours in the area, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n<p>One local told a Kosovo media outlet: &#8216;It was a real little war: first some gunfire, then silence, shootings, detonations.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Kurti said in a Facebook post: &#8216;Organised crime, which is politically, financially and logistically supported from Belgrade, is attacking our state.<\/p>\n<p>The 48-year-old world leader also said of the attack: &#8216;The government of the Republic of Kosovo and its state institutions are ready and co-ordinated to respond to crime and criminals, terror and terrorists.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The country&#8217;s president Vjosa Osmani, who is currently in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, denounced the killing and the &#8216;attacks against the Republic of Kosovo&#8217;s sovereignty.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784579-12555281-image-a-4_1695576622175.jpg\" height=\"595\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A priest at the local Orthodox monastery was seen being shouted at by one of the alleged attackers<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784609-12555281-image-a-5_1695576636329.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kosovo&#8217;s prime minister Albin Kurti (pictured) accused Serbia of backing the attack<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Such attacks testify once again the destabilising power of the criminal bands organised from Serbia which for a long time .. are destabilising Kosovo and the region,&#8217; she said.<\/p>\n<p>But other political figures admonished the country&#8217;s leadership for pointing fingers so quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Serbia&#8217;s parliamentary speaker Vladimir Orlic said Mr Kurti &#8216;was quick to blame the Serbs,&#8217; and accused him of wanting an &#8216;escalation&#8217; in the field.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;[Kurti] said it was some kind of organised action by professionals,&#8217; Mr Orlic told local Prva television station. &#8216;They must have been identified and he knows who they are and what they are, and everything is clear.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The 12-hour long attack, which no one has yet claimed responsibility for, also drew international condemnation.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Caroline Ziadeh, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the violence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;More innocent lives are at risk in ongoing hostilities in the surroundings of Banjska Monastery,&#8217; Borrell said, adding that EU and NATO missions in Kosovo were liaising with authorities. &#8216;These attacks must stop immediately.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Serbia and Kosovo have been at odds with each other for decades.<\/p>\n<p>Their 1998-99 war left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovo Albanians.<\/p>\n<p>Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 but Belgrade has refused to recognise the move.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784651-12555281-image-a-6_1695576729534.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Several unmarked trucked with no licenses were seen blocking off a road in the small town<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/24\/18\/75784653-12555281-image-a-7_1695576734912.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Serbia and Kosovo have locked horns for decades, but have made attempts to work with each other in recent years<\/p>\n<p>Both countries have made moves to work with each other in recent years, though the success of these moves is questionable and tensions still remain high between the two states.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, an EU-facilitated dialogue meeting in Brussels between Mr Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ended in acrimony.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the EU put forward a 10-point plan to end months of political crises. Mr Kurti and Mr Vucic gave their approval at the time, but with some reservations that have still not been resolved.<\/p>\n<p>The EU warned both countries that the commitments that Serbia and Kosovo made in February &#8216;are binding on them and play a role in the European path of the parties,&#8217; which refers to their chances of joining the 27-nation bloc.<\/p>\n<p>NATO still retains 3,700 peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, the remainder of an original 50,000-strong force deployed in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>But in May, tensions in northern Kosovo left 93 peacekeepers hurt in riots.<\/p>\n<p>The northern Kosovo area, close to the Serbian border and filled with ethnic Serbs, is still heavily linked with Serbia.<\/p>\n<p>Local administration and public servants, teachers, doctors and big infrastructure projects in the region are paid for by Belgrade.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12555281\/Serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-armoured-vehicles-storm-village-Kosovo-killing-police-officer-wounding-string-deadly-shootouts-amid-tensions-two-Balkan-neighbours.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Serbia-backed&#8217; masked gunmen in armoured vehicles storm village in Kosovo, killing police officer and wounding another in string of deadly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&amp;apos;Serbia-backed&amp;apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&amp;apos;Serbia-backed&amp;apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8216;Serbia-backed&#8217; masked gunmen in armoured vehicles storm village in Kosovo, killing police officer and wounding another in string of deadly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Need News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-Kosovo-and-kill-cop.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/\",\"name\":\"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/category\/world-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/\",\"name\":\"News Need News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Jason\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4e61f3f3828292a4daf0b7f321ab5a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4e61f3f3828292a4daf0b7f321ab5a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jason\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News","og_description":"&#8216;Serbia-backed&#8217; masked gunmen in armoured vehicles storm village in Kosovo, killing police officer and wounding another in string of deadly","og_url":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/","og_site_name":"News Need News","article_published_time":"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00","author":"Jason","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-Kosovo-and-kill-cop.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jason","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/","url":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/","name":"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop - News Need News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-24T19:08:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/world-news\/serbia-backed-masked-gunmen-storm-village-in-kosovo-and-kill-cop\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World News","item":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/category\/world-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"&apos;Serbia-backed&apos; masked gunmen storm village in Kosovo and kill cop"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/","name":"News Need News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Jason","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4e61f3f3828292a4daf0b7f321ab5a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4e61f3f3828292a4daf0b7f321ab5a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jason"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}