Kosovo Serbs commemorate members of armed groups killed during clashes with police

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Kosovo Serbs commemorated members of an armed Serb group late Tuesday who were killed Sunday while fighting police.

Hundreds gathered in North Mitrovica to pay tribute by lighting candles and kissing photographs to the three who were killed.

Members of the Serbian List -- a minority political party in Kosovo, and other representatives, participated in the ceremony.

Kosovo Serbs declared three days of mourning throughout the Serbian List.

Serbian flags in the region were lowered to half-mast.

A fight broke out Sunday in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo near the Serbian border when a group of armed Serbs blocked a bridge. A shootout erupted when the group opened fire on police, killing one officer and wounding another.

Several security forces were dispatched to the region, and the Brnjak border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia was closed.

The area has been the scene of unrest since April, when local ethnic Serbs boycotted elections in northern Kosovo, followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Albanians are by far the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, followed by Serbs, with about half living in the north.

Amid the unrest concerning elections, NATO peacekeepers were deployed, including a group of extra Turkish reinforcements.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and gained recognition from many countries, including Türkiye. But Serbia has never recognized Kosovo and claims it is still part of Serbia.