Video Released By Kosovo Allegedly Shows Ethnic Serb Politician Participating In Monastery Attack
Kosovar police display weapons after an attack on a monastery in the north of the country.
Kosovar authorities have released a video they said implicates a top ethnic Serb businessman in an attack on an Orthodox monastery that left four people dead, including a police officer.
In a statement accompanying the video published on Facebook, Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said that among the heavily armed men shown in the video was Milan Radoicic, a construction tycoon who is also a top official of the main ethnic Serb political party in Kosovo, Serbian List, funded mainly by Belgrade.
It wasn’t immediately possible to verify Radoicic’s identity in the video, which Svecla said was shot on September 24, apparently by drone.
Radoicic was hit with sanctions by the United States and Britain in 2021 for allegedly being part of an organized crime group in the Balkans.
In the September 24 attack, around 30 people dressed in military-like uniforms stormed the Serbian Orthodox complex in Banjska, sparking a gunbattle with Kosovar police.
Three attackers were killed, along with a Kosovar police officer. Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, declared a day of mourning for the slain officer.
Kosovo Police Display Confiscated Weapons Following Monastery Attack
1/14Hand grenades confiscated from the northern, Serb-majority district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer, were exhibited to journalists by Kosovar police on September 25.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
2/14Artillery pieces were also confiscated.
Roads into the village of Banjska, where the monastery is located, remained blocked by police on September 26, and authorities were searching homes trying to identify the masterminds behind the attack two days earlier.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
3/14Radio communications equipment along with bullets and cartridges were displayed.
A total of eight people have been arrested so far, according to Veton Elshani, a top regional police official, and access to the village remains blocked.
"The police still haven't finished their work, they don't know when it will happen, maybe today during the day," he told RFE/RL.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
4/14The general director of the Kosovo Police, Gazmend Hoxha, said that in a Mercedes car with Belgrade license plates, a gun permit was found in the name of Millan Radoicic.
Around 30 people dressed in military-like uniforms stormed the Serbian Orthodox complex in Banjska on September 24, sparking a gunbattle with Kosovar police.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
5/14A permit to carry weapons for personal use issued to Millan Radoicic was displayed in the vehicle.
Three attackers were killed, along with a Kosovar police officer. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti declared a day of mourning for the slain officer.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
6/14Identity cards and bank cards suspected to belong to the attackers were also shown.
Among those arrested, four had radio communications equipment, police said, and a "significant amount" of weaponry, ammunition, and other equipment was also found.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
7/14A single-use hand-held rocket launcher was found at the scene.
The attack, and the murkiness of its circumstances, comes as tensions continue to mount in the ethnic Serb-dominated north of Kosovo.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
8/14In addition to weapons and ammunition, the Kosovo Police said they also found military vehicles.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, and squabbling and conflicts have erupted over things like license-plate registrations and municipal elections.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
9/14Confiscated ammunition
At least six of the suspected attackers who escaped were now in Serbia receiving treatment at a hospital there, Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told reporters, and he demanded that Serbia hand them over to Kosovar authorities.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
10/14Crates of ammunition, a Serbian flag, and other confiscated items are displayed.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has denied that Belgrade was involved in the incident. He also repeated that Serbia would "never" recognize Kosovo's independence, "neither formally nor informally."
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
11/14This vehicle, which is suspected to have been used by the attackers, had a sticker with the inscription KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
13/14An armored car confiscated by the Kosovo Police was also presented.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
14/14Vehicle license plates with Belgrade registration
The United States' top diplomat called on both Kosovo and Serbia to avoid worsening tensions.
Kosovar police displayed weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other items confiscated during searches in a northern, ethnic Serb-dominated district where an attack on an Orthodox monastery left four people dead, including a police officer.
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The attack, and the murkiness of its circumstances -- no group has come forward to claim responsibility -- comes as tensions continue to mount in the ethnic-Serb-dominated district of Kosovo.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, and squabbling and conflicts erupt frequently over things like license plate registrations and municipal elections.
Some observers speculated the attack might have been a false-flag operation, aimed at generating outrage in Serbia.
Veton Elshani, a top regional police official, told RFE/RL that access to Banjska will continue to be blocked until at least 9:00 a.m. local time on September 27. Elshani said searches conducted on September 26 resulted in the arrest of eight people.
Among those arrested, four had radio communications equipment, police said, and a “significant amount” of weapons, ammunition, and other equipment was also found.
Serbian List, the main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, on September 27 declared a three-day mourning period to mark the "killing of our fellow citizens in the tragic events in the Banjska village."
At least six of the suspected attackers who escaped are now in Serbia receiving treatment at a hospital there, Svecla told reporters, and he demanded Serbia hand them over to Kosovar authorities.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has denied that Belgrade was involved in the incident.
He also repeated that Serbia would “never” recognize Kosovo’s independence, "neither formally nor informally.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on both Kosovo and Serbia to avoid worsening tensions.
"We call on the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from any actions or rhetoric which could further inflame tensions and to immediately work in coordination with international partners to de-escalate the situation,” Blinken said in a statement.
Western officials are mediating talks between Serbia and Kosovo as part of a decade-long diplomatic push toward formalized relations and repairing some of the wounds from internecine wars in the 1990s after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
In May and June, Kurti ignored outside warnings and tried to forcibly install four mayors in mostly Serbian northern municipalities following boycotted by-elections to fill posts vacated by protesting Serbs.
The resulting tensions erupted in violence that injured dozens of NATO-led peacekeepers and some ethnic Serb protesters.
In 2019, RFE/RL's Balkan Service marked 25 years of reporting in one of the world’s most contested regions, championing professionalism and moderation in a media landscape that is sharply divided along ethnic and partisan lines.
