Man Shot Dead in Woods in Northern Kosovo

Avni Zahiti, Kosovo Police Spokesperson, told BIRN that a man was shot dead and two others were wounded in the woods near Kolloverga, a Kosovo Albanian village near the Serb-run municipality of Zubin Potok.

Albion Brahimi, one of the wounded, told Express online that the gunfire came from a person in Serbian army uniform.

“A person in Serbian army uniform shot us. I managed to escape even though I was wounded, and eventually informed my family about this,” he said.

The man said they were cutting down trees in the woods at the time of the shootout.

The Serbian government's office for Kosovo told BIRN it did not have clear information on what happened, nor that a man in Serbian uniform had shot at Kosovo Albanians.

Marko Djuric, the head of the office, is currently visiting the north of Kosovo, and reportedly may go to the scene.

The incident comes a day after Stevan Sindjelic, from the Serbian special police unit known as the Gendarmerie, was shot dead by unknown attackers, reportedly illegal loggers, on the Kosovo-Serbian border.

Following his death, Nebojsa Stefanovic, the Serbian Interior Minister, said Serbia would not tolerate “terrorist attacks on its territory and the police would respond with force to any attack.

“I have ordered a strengthening of the presence of police forces to protect the lives of police officers, the local population and vital interests of our country,” Stefanovic told Tanjug news agency.