Late on Friday evening, a strong explosion damaged a canal supplying water to two of the largest coal-fired power plants in Kosovo, which threatens to deprive parts of the country of electricity. Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused neighboring Serbia of a “terrorist attack”. Earlier, the police announced that an explosive device was thrown at the headquarters of the local center in the town of Zveczan.
The explosion damaged a canal in Zubin Potok, several dozen kilometers away from the capital. This canal supplies water necessary for the cooling systems of two coal-fired power plants, which are the main sources of electricity supply for all of Kosovo.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti warned that damage to the canal could lead to power outages.
“It was a criminal, terrorist attack aimed at destroying our critical infrastructure,” Kurti said at a news conference. “The attack was carried out by professionals. We believe that they were gangs led by Serbia,” he added.
The canal, which also provides drinking water, connects the Serb-majority part of Kosovo with the capital Pristina.
Attack on the seat of the Zveczan commune
An explosive device was thrown at the headquarters of the Zveczan commune, a majority-Serbian center in northern Kosovo, local police said on Friday. Veton Elshani, director of the Kosovo Police in the north of the country, said that the attack damaged a municipal building and four vehicles parked nearby, and police had launched an investigation.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said after the attack that “criminal and terrorist attacks” on Kosovo institutions are intended to intimidate, noting that despite this, the situation in northern Kosovo “has never been better.”
Kosovo's Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said that the latest attacks on Kosovo's institutions are “an expression of the desperation and arrogance of criminal groups led by Belgrade.”
Destruction after the explosion of a thrown chargeReuters
Attack on the police station in Zvečana
On Wednesday, two hand grenades were thrown into the Zvečana police station. The attack came two days after Prime Minister Kurti laid the foundation stone for a police station in the nearby village of Izvor. Over the weekend, the construction of a police point began on the road leading to one of the border crossings Serbia.
The Serb community opposes the construction of police stations and bases, treating them as a sign of “pressure and discrimination” from the Kosovo authorities.
The government in Pristina has made a number of decisions in recent months that are intended to expand central authority in areas inhabited mostly by Serbs – including: the Serbian dinar was withdrawn from official circulation and the branches of the Serbian Post in the north of the country were closed.
Serbia lost control over Kosovo after the military campaign NATO in 1999 and refuses to recognize the independence of its former province announced in 2008. Kosovo is still inhabited by the Serb minority, some of which are concentrated in the northern areas, near the border with Serbia.
Main photo source: Reuters