Serbian military on alert after Kosovo’s police target border gangs

SERBIA has put its military on alert after more than 20 people in Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo were arrested and 11 injured during raids by police special forces.

Two members of the UN mission to Kosovo, a local and a Russian citizen were also detained but released and admitted to hospital after outcries in New York and Moscow.

Kosovo officials accused them of helping Serbs try to block a road with their car. Nineteen local police officers and several civilians were arrested in and around Mitrovica as part of an operation against organised crime.

Kosovo officials said the police were not targeting minorities and those detained included Serbs, Albanians and Bosniaks suspected of smuggling.

But Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian president, called the operation an attempt to intimidate minority Serbs in Kosovo. He ordered the army to “full combat readiness”, warning that “if there is any serious endangering of order and people in the northern Kosovo, they will protect our people”.

Serbian state news reported yesterday that a column of troops and vehicles was heading toward the border. Nato still has several thousand peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo.

The fledgling state declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 following a war involving Albanian troops and Nato bombers in 1999.

But Kosovo’s northern border region, which is 90 per cent Serb, has refused to participate in the Albanian-dominated government and remained loyal to Belgrade.

Among the 11 injured were five police special forces, including one hit by a gunshot, Kosovo officials said.

Six Serb civilians were also hurt in the clashes. Serbia accused Kosovo police of firing over Serbs’ heads and deploying tear gas.

Photographs showed cars and lorries overturned on the roadside where Serbs had reportedly attempted to set up barricades against the police operation. Behgjet Pacolli, Kosovo’s foreign minister, warned that police operations could continue in the north, which has been plagued by cross-border smuggling.

In a speech in parliament on Monday, Mr Vucic had called for a compromise on Kosovo and warned clashes could resume there if no agreement was found. Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo’s independence despite the West’s support for it.

A Right-wing politician accused him of conspiring with Kosovo’s leaders in an attempt to force a deal. Mr Pacolli said yesterday his country’s authorities were set to carry out more such police raids.

He said: “I believe it’s not the last operation in Kosovo... Maybe today, maybe tomorrow or in the next days. We are fighting organised crime.”

He said the operation was “normal work” for police and the action took place in other parts of Kosovo as well.

Maja Kocijancic, an EU spokesman, said that Brussels was in touch with the leadership in Pristina and Belgrade and called for “utmost restraint”.