Serbia arrests Kosovo police

Serbia has arrested three Kosovo police officers on charges of infiltrating its territory, but separatist authorities say they were kidnapped.

"The terrorist group was arrested at 12:38 (19:38 Hanoi time) in the Gnjilica village area of Raska municipality, deep inside Serbian territory," Petar Petkovic, head of Serbia's office in charge of Kosovo and Metohija, announced on June 14.

Serbian officials said the three Kosovo police officers were carrying automatic weapons and full military equipment, GPS locators, maps and other equipment when they were arrested. The village of Gnjilica is located about 6 km from the border between Serbia and the breakaway region of Kosovo.

Kosovo's breakaway government has denied Serbia's accusations that the three policemen were kidnapped. Kosovo police said the three officers, part of a patrol unit near the border with Serbia, went missing after reports of masked men carrying weapons entering the breakaway region.

Serbian security forces arrest Kosovo police officers on June 14. Photo: Serbian Interior Ministry

Albin Kurti, the head of Kosovo's law enforcement agency, accused Serbia of kidnapping the three policemen in retaliation for the capture of a Serb militia leader in the breakaway region. Kurti said the kidnapping took place in the northern city of Leposavic, and demanded "the immediate release of the three police officers".

Serbia has arrested three Kosovo police officers after a series of clashes erupted in the breakaway region's north, escalating tensions in the region. Dozens of people were injured in clashes between Serbian protesters and Kosovo police and NATO troops in the town of Zvecan on May 29. NATO later sent hundreds of troops to reinforce its forces in Kosovo.

Kosovo Serbs boycotted April local elections in the breakaway north, which gave ethnic Albanian officials control of local councils despite voter turnout of less than 3.5%.

The Serb community in the breakaway region also demanded the withdrawal of Kosovo special police, as well as the Albanian mayor whom they do not consider representative of their ethnicity.

Location of Kosovo and Serbia. Graphic: Britannica

Kosovo, with an area of about 10,800 km2, is a breakaway territory located in the southwest of Serbia. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia does not recognize it and claims sovereignty over this area. Kosovo has a population of 1.8 million, mainly Albanians.

About 120,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo do not recognize the government in Pristina. They are politically loyal to Serbia, which still provides financial support to the community. Most Western countries recognize Kosovo's independence, but the breakaway region has not been granted a seat at the United Nations due to opposition from Russia and China.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP )

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