Violent clashes in northern Kosovo
According to RFE/RL, Fresh tensions have arisen between Serbia and Kosovo after Kosovar police carried out anti-smuggling operations that drew protests from locals, leading to clashes with police and a dire warning from the European Union.
Six police officers and nearly a dozen residents were injured and eight people were arrested in northern Kosovo as Kosovar Serbs protested the raids. Several of the injured residents remain hospitalized.
The eruption follows fears last month of a widening international dispute as Kosovar Serbs and neighboring Serbia mobilized to counter a newly imposed license-plate requirement by Kosovo for vehicles crossing one of the tensest borders in the often volatile Balkans.
The Kosovo police actions on October 13 targeted suspected smugglers in Pristina, Peja, South Mitrovica, and North Mitrovica, the latter of which is a mostly Serbian municipality in northern Kosovo.
"While in all other regions the police operation went smoothly, in North Mitrovica organized criminal groups gathered, created roadblocks with various means of transport, [and] used gas cylinders, shock bombs, gunfire and hand grenades, in order to prevent and attack customs and police officials who have been on duty," the Kosovo police said in a statement.
"The Kosovo police is conducting a law enforcement operation across Kosovo. The NATO-led KFOR mission is in constant communication with all relevant institutions in Kosovo and with representatives of the international community, and it remains fully focused on the daily implementation of its UN mandate...to continue ensuring a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities living in Kosovo," an unnamed NATO official told RFE/RL.
"KFOR also continues to support the implementation of the recent arrangement on de-escalation and the way forward in northern Kosovo reached between Belgrade and Pristina, under the auspices of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue."
Tear gas was fired to disperse crowds that were said to be threatening police, and vehicles were parked on main roads to the south, blocking traffic.
Police later announced that the police operation was over and the situation in North Mitrovica had calmed down but that additional police actions were ongoing in coordination with customs and judiciary bodies.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who won office pledging greater "reciprocity" in relations between Pristina and Belgrade, said the police operations were the result of intense investigation.
