The terrorist attack in Banjska, Kosovo requires help from the countries of the Region for the investigations

The Prosecutor's Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina said that it has received a submission from Kosovo institutions to investigate the origin of the weapons confiscated in Banjska.

In this village of Zveçan municipality, armed groups of Serbs attacked the Kosovo police on September 24, killing a policeman.

In the ensuing gunfight, three more Serb attackers were killed.

In the days after the attack, Kosovo police confiscated a large amount of weapons in Banjska, which they said were made by Serbian and former Yugoslav factories.

In the response of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia sent to REL, it is stated that "the available preliminary information shows that it is not a question of weapons left over from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina".

"Perhaps it is about weapons of later production, which are not of Bosnian origin. But, through the Institute of International Cooperation, all the necessary activities will be carried out to determine all the details for sure", said the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia.

The Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo confirmed to Radio Free Europe that they have requested cooperation from several states in the region regarding the investigation of the attack in Banjska.

The Kosovo government accuses Serbia of this attack, but official Serbia denies involvement.

From here they say they are doing separate investigations into the attack.

In a statement given to REL at the beginning of this month, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia also said that it has not initiated any investigation into the claims of the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade that Millan Radoicic, former chairman of the Serbian List in Kosovo, has provided arms, ammunition and explosives from Tuzlla for the September 24 attack in Banjska.

"In the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have not received any report from the police bodies about the possible criminal act and the perpetrators; we did not receive any information from the institutions of the neighboring countries, so there was no order to conduct any investigation", said on November 6, Boris Grubeši?, spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Last month, the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade said that Radoicic is accused of providing weapons, ammunition and explosive devices of great destructive power from Tuzla, in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, from January this year to September 24.

According to the Serbian Prosecutor's Office, the weapons were delivered to him in the territory of Belgrade, from where he transported and hid them in abandoned buildings and forests in Kosovo.
The Interior Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ramo Isak, rejected the accusations from Serbia as well.

Radoicic himself, through a public letter on September 29, admitted that he "personally" organized the armed rebellion in the north of Kosovo.

He denied the responsibility of the Serbian state authorities in the attack.

He, likewise, did not accept the crimes, with which the Prosecutor's Office of Belgrade charged him.

Radoicic was released from detention in Serbia, but his documents were confiscated.

How far did the investigations go?

The Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo told REL that it is conducting intensive investigations regarding the September 24 attack.

According to REL sources in the police, so far 38 people have been identified who were part of the armed group in Banjska. Of them, 31 are wanted for arrest.

For the persons who are already in custody in Kosovo, and there are several of them, all the evidence is being examined, according to the sources.

A police official told REL that "the evidence found at the scene is being investigated".

The State Prosecutor's Office of North Macedonia told REL that, so far, they have not accepted any request from Kosovo for assistance in investigations.

"We do not rule out the possibility that such assistance was requested through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Justice, but the Prosecutor's Office still does not have anything like this. As for what help we can offer, we can offer help to specific persons if eventually such a thing is required", said the Prosecutor's Office in Skopje.

The REL is waiting for the answer from the Ministry of Justice in North Macedonia, if it has accepted any request from the institutions of Kosovo and how it proceeded further.

Similarly, REL also asked the institutions in Montenegro, but did not receive an answer.

The attack in Banjska raised concerns about stability in the region, while the international community called on both Kosovo and Serbia to return to talks on normalizing relations.

The EU said that Kosovo has a mandate to investigate the attack in Banjska, while it asked Serbia to cooperate unconditionally.