Kosovo seeks international sanctions against Serbia / Photo: © AFP
-
South African election results renew debate over identity-based voting
-
Post-election pressures complicate US and Israeli decisions on Iran
-
South African voters report smoother local election but declining IEC trust
-
UN members approve talks on treaty protocol against environmental crime
-
Dolly Parton museum and Nashville hotel open after singer’s death
-
Family-run West Sussex beach café prepares for first winter season
-
George and Amal Clooney attend New York political-comedy reading
-
CT scans reveal health and burial clues from Egypt’s Braided Lady mummy
-
British buyers pay substantial premiums for period-home appearance
-
Oxford faces complaints over lecturer’s classroom attire
-
Thomas Markle released to house arrest after child-abuse-image charge
-
Kyren Wilson and John Higgins reach International Championship snooker final
-
Dawn of War 4 developers chose Adeptus Mechanicus for tactical variety
-
New Zealand and Tonga meet for place in Rugby League World Cup final
-
Italy face unbeaten South Africa in Turin Nations Championship match
-
Reports of unsafe AI-toy responses renew calls for child-safety rules
-
ChatGPT interactive interface feature tested across six custom tools
-
Juneau food network combines difficult supply routes with deep sharing traditions
-
Freshways milk-price cut deepens pressure on UK dairy farms
-
India climbs green-transition ranking after first emissions decline in 25 years
-
Labour and National remain virtually tied as New Zealand vote count advances
-
Trump names Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff after midterm losses
-
The Good Daughter adapts Karin Slaughter thriller with Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy
-
Restored Albanian tower houses anchor new rural tourism trail
-
Heavy-lift drone evacuates wounded Ukrainian soldier from frontline kill zone
-
Sonia Gandhi reflects on family tragedy and reluctant political career
-
Morrison says West Brom recovered after pressure from successive derby losses
-
Pope Leo begins three-country South American tour in Uruguay
-
Britain considers 2027 state visit for Ukraine’s Zelensky
-
Khawaja says entire Australia camp knew of 2018 ball-tampering plan
Kosovo seeks international sanctions against Serbia
Kosovo on Thursday called for international sanctions against Serbia, claiming that Belgrade had supplied the weapons used by gunmen suspected of having killed a Kosovo police officer at the weekend.
The killing and an ensuing gun battle at a monastery in a village close to the Serbian border marked one of the gravest escalations in the former breakaway province in years.
"For this, Serbia should be sanctioned," Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told lawmakers on Thursday.
If not, he added, "it will do it again".
Kurti also said that the "military arsenal of the Serbian professionals who attacked Banjska was made up of weapons from Serbia".
Kurti was referring to the weapons the Kosovo authorities claim to have seized in the northern village of Banjska during an operation carried out against the gunmen.
According to a list published by Kurti, the haul included an armoured vehicle, grenades, AK47 rifles and rocket launchers, in all worth several million euros.
Belgrade has repeatedly rejected Pristina's accusations.
The Kosovo police officer was killed on Sunday when gunmen ambushed a patrol a few kilometres (miles) from the Serbian border.
An hours-long firefight followed between the Kosovo police and several dozen heavily armed men holed up in the monastery.
Three gunmen were killed and three were arrested, while the fate of the others remains unknown.
According to Pristina, several are hospitalised in southern Serbia.
Sunday's violence has reignited tensions between the former foes.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since a war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade -- and its allies Moscow and Beijing -- still does not recognise.
Serbia declared the three killed men its "martyrs" and observed a day of national mourning on Wednesday, with hundreds gathering to commemorate them at the Church of Saint Sava in the capital Belgrade.
Serbian tennis star and world number 1 Novak Djokovic, shared on Instagram a photo from the gathering featuring the faces of the three killed men with three praying hands emoticons.
The United States and the European Union condemned the incident, calling on Serbia and Kosovo to take "urgent measures" to reduce the violence and work towards de-escalation.
P.Staeheli--VB