Kurti: Belgrade ordered, equipped, and trained the terrorists; we will seek their extradition from Serbia

(Patria) - Dozens of terrorists attacked the Kosovo police with heavy weapons on Sunday morning, killing one officer and wounding two.

Kosovo authorities announced that in a police operation, three attackers were killed, while six people were arrested - two attackers and four who provided support.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke about the current events in Kosovo, as well as this tragic event, on the show "Istraga sedmice" (Investigation of the Week) on Hayat Television.

- Around three in the morning, Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed, who, along with his police colleagues, fought with dozens of terrorists for about an hour and a half, until all Kosovo police units arrived.

Belgrade is the instigator

They managed to get one of them out, and only one of the nine died. When our police arrived, there were heavy clashes, in which another policeman from our side was injured, and three terrorists were killed on their side.

Six of them are in prison. Many others have escaped, and we are now seeking their surrender. On Sunday, an attack on Kosovo's territorial integrity, state sovereignty, national security, and constitutional and public order occurred, Kurti said.

He also touched upon whether organized criminal groups or criminal groups under Belgrade's patronage were responsible. He stated that they received political and logistical support, as well as weapons and combat training from Belgrade.

- Belgrade is the instigator. All those who were there had Serbian citizenship. Some of them might have been born in Kosovo, but they crossed from the other side of the border when they attacked the Banjska monastery in Zvečan.

We are also counting on the pressure of the international community, and that they hand over these criminals and terrorists to our security and justice organs.

Serbia, through the international community, should hand over the other members who were not killed and not arrested, so they can serve their sentences after extradition and after the judicial process, because they are clearly terrorists, people who attacked with heavy weapons and tried to destabilize Kosovo in this way.

They did not succeed in that, but that does not mean they should not face justice, Kurti emphasized.

The Serbian government declared September 27 as a Day of Mourning due to, as they stated, the "tragic events" in Kosovo. Kurti believes this means Serbia stands behind them.

- Official Belgrade gave the order to attack in Kosovo, but I think they have now realized that such terrorist organizations and gangs have no chance against our police.

Do not forget that these are not smuggling gangs, nor are they ordinary citizens who took up arms. These are professional forces who fought God knows where before, and now they have come to fight in Kosovo.

Kosovo is a peaceful, democratic, and sovereign state that cannot allow such attacks, and they will have to face justice and receive punishment for killing Afrim Bunjaku and for violating our laws and our constitutional and public order.

There are two organizations in Serbia, perhaps with members in the northern part of Kosovo, called 'Northern Brigade' and 'Civil Protection'. We declared them terrorist organizations at a session of our Government, Kurti said.

He also commented on whether other organizations, political ones, are connected to these terrorist organizations. He said it is possible. However, they believe that these two organizations, supported by official Belgrade, are directly responsible.

The footage is not edited

- There is probably Moscow involved in all of this because the day after the terrorist attack on our country, the President of Serbia met with Aleksandar Bocan-Harčenko in Belgrade, the Russian ambassador to Belgrade, who on September 26, 2021, came to the border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia to inspect the regrouping of various military forces and equipment of the Serbian army, while a MiG-29, a gift from the Russian Federation or Belarus to Serbia, was flying overhead, Kurti said.

Speaking about how satisfied they are with the organization of international organizations operating in Kosovo, Kurti points out that they have been in communication with KFOR and EULEX all day. He also touched upon whether any international officials had asked them to release the terrorists from the north of Kosovo.

- The Kosovo Police is the first responder, the first to react. The first responder, when successful, does not need another. The second is EULEX, and the third is KFOR.

No one asked for that, and no one can ask for it. I am the democratic prime minister of a sovereign state, and we do not make such deals. No one has asked me for that, nor is it possible because they know my answer in advance.

I don't think either KFOR or EULEX are involved in any such deals. The terrorists escaped because the terrain is very hilly and the border line between Kosovo and Serbia is very long, Kurti said.

Kosovo authorities have requested footage showing that Milan Radoičić led the attacks. Serbian officials say the footage is edited.

- The footage is not edited. It is footage from a drone, and he is seen there, and it is not a coincidence. He is the main person who, on one hand, sits in the Security Council of Serbia, in meetings in Belgrade, and on the other hand, leads terrorist organizations along with other criminals like Zvonko Veselinović and others.

He is the main person responsible for the crimes that occurred in the northern part of Kosovo. We have destroyed 16 drug production laboratories, and as many as nine of them are in the northern part of Kosovo.

A lot of the corruption and crime happening in the northern part of Kosovo is necessarily linked to the name Radoičić, who is otherwise on the blacklists of both the USA and Great Britain, Kurti emphasized.

Regarding whether he is satisfied with the reaction of the international community, the European Union, and the USA, where they tried to equalize responsibility through certain statements, Kurti is of the opinion that all partners from the democratic West clearly know who did this and whose fault it is.

- I think that slowly but surely, they all have a clear language by very strongly condemning this terrorist criminal attempt by Serbia, an act of aggression, with which they want to destabilize Kosovo.

They are all a bit clearer and more certain now about what happened. This is much better compared to the situation in mid-June when three of our police officers were kidnapped, and even today the international community says they don't know where it happened, even though we confirmed and provided them with facts that it happened in the municipality of Leposavić, Kosovo, Kurti stated.

He commented on the positions and agreement of the Prime Minister of Albania and the President of Serbia that the north of Kosovo should be handed over to KFOR's jurisdiction.

- We need joint patrols, of our police and KFOR, on the border between Kosovo and Serbia. As for other matters, that is already established.

Anywhere in Kosovo, the first to respond is our police, then EULEX, and then KFOR. I don't think this formula needs to be changed, Kurti concluded.