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Kosovo PM asks Serbia to hand over gunmen involved in Banjska shooting

Kosovo police officers guard road near the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, Sept. 24, 2023.
Kosovo police officers guard road near the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, Sept. 24, 2023. Copyright  Bojan Slavkovic/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
Copyright Bojan Slavkovic/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
By Euronews
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Kosovo has pressed charges against 45 people allegedly involved in the killing of policeman Afrim Bunjaku. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

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Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti has demanded that Serbia hand over its indicted citizens who were allegedly involved in an attack that killed Kosovar police officer Afrim Bunjaku last year.

"One year has passed since the heroic fall of the Kosovo police officer Afrim Bunjaku, who, together with his colleagues, arrived at a place where an ambush was prepared against our police officers from paramilitaries and terrorists who were orchestrated, directed and financed by Serbia," the prime minister said as he visited the village of Banjska in honour of Bunjaku.

"Bullies who want war in Kosovo, in the Balkans, will have no place in Kosovo," Kurti said. "I don't know about Serbia, but they will not walk freely in Kosovo."

A group of Serb gunmen opened fire near the Banjska village in the north of Kosovo in September last year, killing Bunjaku and injuring another. The group then fled to a nearby Serbian Orthodox monastery, resulting in a 12-hour standoff with local police.

Kosovo prosecutors pressed charges of violation of the constitutional and legal order, terror activities, funding terrorism and money laundering against 45 people. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

So far, only three people have been arrested, while others are at large.

Kosovo police officers secure a cross road leading to the Banjska Monastery in the village of Banjska on Sunday, Sept.24, 2023.
Kosovo police officers secure a cross road leading to the Banjska Monastery in the village of Banjska on Sunday, Sept.24, 2023. Visar Kryeziu/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Kurti said Serbia was responsible and must be held accountable and claimed the attack aimed to annex a part of Kosovo.

Kurti added that the group had attempted to bring a large quantity of weaponry to Kosovo to instigate "a wider and longer conflict".

Serbia denies the accusations and says the gunmen acted on their own.

The EU and the US condemned the attack and have called on Serbia to hand over the gunmen.

EU spokesman Peter Stano stressed the importance of prosecuting those responsible and said it was a reminder of the need to advance the normalisation of Kosovo and Serbia's relations.

During his visit to Banjska, Kurti unveiled the street sign for a road leading to the village named after the police officer.

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