Kosovo police clash with ethnic Serbs during smuggling raids

Belgrade and Pristina trade barbs after several injured in violent clashes in northern Kosovo.

Several Kosovo police officers and ethnic Serb civilians have been injured in clashes that broke out during raids on suspected smugglers in a volatile area of Kosovo, according to local officials.

Kosovo police said in a statement that officers met resistance in Mitrovica, in the north, as they carried out an operation to seize illicit goods in several towns on Wednesday. The area is mostly populated by Kosovo’s Serb minority.

The police statement said that “criminal groups” blocked roads with cars, used stun bombs, hand grenades and fired shots to “hamper and attack” officers. It said six officers were injured and eight Serbs were arrested.