BANJSKA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday held Serbia accountable for trying to annex part of Kosovo following an incursion of Serb gunmen who killed a police officer in a shootout last year that raised tensions between the sides.
Kurti called on the international community to press Belgrade to hand over the gunmen who retreated to Serbia following a 12-hour standoff at a Serbian Orthodox monastery at Banjska, 55 kilometers (30 miles) north of the capital Pristina.
“Serbia is responsible and Serbia should be held accountable,” said Kurti. “The plan was to divide Kosovo. The plan was to annex part of its territory.”
Kurti said the paramilitary group was “orchestrated and financed from Serbia” and had earlier brought to Kosovo a large quantity of weaponry “for a wider and longer conflict.” Kosovo police later confiscated some 105 weapons and more than 80,000 ammunition rounds. Serbia says the gunmen acted on their own.
A road to Banjska was named Afrim Bunjaku, after the slain police officer.
Earlier this month Kosovo prosecutors filed charges of violation of the constitutional and legal order, terror activities, funding terrorism and money laundering against 45 people, which further raised tensions between Serbia and its former breakaway province. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Only three people have been arrested while others are at large.
Among those charged in absentia is Milan Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia’s ruling populist party and President Aleksandar Vucic.
Last year Serbia briefly detained Radoicic after the shootout on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, unlawful possession of weapons and explosives and grave acts against public safety. Radoicic denied the charges although earlier admitted he was part of the paramilitary group involved in the gunfight.
Radoicic is also under U.S. and British sanctions for his alleged financial criminal activity.
The European Union and the U.S. condemned the attack and have called on Serbia to hand over the gunmen.
EU spokesman Peters Stano on Tuesday reiterated the “call for swift prosecution of those responsible," saying it's a reminder of the need to maintain security and advance normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey M. Hovenier said it was Washington's "expectation that the perpetrators and all those who were involved in that horrific crime are held fully accountable.”
“The failure to hold those responsible accountable, despite clear admissions of guilt, undermines peace in the region and sends a dangerous message. Justice must be done. No more delays or excuses,” the German Embassy in Pristina said in a statement.
Kosovo was a Serbian province until NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008.
Brussels and Washington are pressing both sides to implement agreements that Vucic and Kurti reached in February and March last year. They include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of the Serb-Majority Municipalities. Serbia is also expected to deliver on the de-facto recognition of Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers its province.
The NATO-led international peacekeepers known as KFOR have increased their presence in Kosovo after last year’s tense moments.
Semini reported from Tirana, Albania. Follow Semini at https://x.com/lsemini
FILE -Kosovo police officers guard road near the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, Sept. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — Students poured into Apalachee High School on Tuesday for their first day of class after a school shooting killed two of their peers and two teachers and injured nine other people almost three weeks ago at the campus northeast of Atlanta.
The sun was still rising as buses with windows painted to read “CHEE STRONG” and “Love will prevail" looped around the school's entrance. Georgia State Patrol cars and sheriff vehicles weaved their way through traffic as students turned into parking lots.
Police say 14-year-old student Colt Gray slipped out of math class on the morning of Sept. 4 with an AR-15-style rifle given to him by his father. Within minutes, sounds of gunshots rippled across the hall, and students crouched behind desks as teachers barricaded classroom doors. The school went into lockdown. Some students saw bodies as police officers led them to the football field, where others bled from the grazing of a bullet.
“I don't want to go back, because it is my last year and things are a little hard on me,” said Apalachee student Junior Garcia Ramirez, who was close to the football coach killed by the shooter.
But the open house hosted by the school Monday helped Ramirez feel more prepared to go back. He said there “wasn't a corner” of the school without staff, police officers, counselors or therapy dogs roaming the halls. He was especially glad to hear from school board officials and see how much they cared.
The atmosphere of the open house was one of both joy and unease, Ramirez said. Students were excited to be back together, but some were on edge about returning to classes as the blocked-off hallway where the shooting happened reminded them of when their safety was at risk.
The next day, students milled about the campus and chatted with friends as they made their way towards the building to begin class.
Within two days of the shooting, Gray was charged with four counts of murder, and his father with related charges. Officials say Gray shot and killed Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, the 39-year-old football coach, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Another teacher and eight students were injured.
Classes will resume for half days until students return from fall break in mid-October in what the school calls a “phased return.” The hall where the shooting occurred will be closed for the rest of the school year, so buses will take students to a building a few miles away for social studies classes. There will also be more law enforcement on campus in addition to counselors and therapy dogs, just like there were at the open house.
Apalachee parent Amanda Buckingham appreciates the shorter class periods with less school work.
“I think that's going to help with the healing process and kids working together again with one another, and talking about their feelings while they're in that setting,” Buckingham said.
Anxious parents brought their kids back to the neighboring elementary and middle schools in Winder less than a week after the shooting. Some expressed concerns about ongoing safety protocols at all three campuses, even as police officers stood outside.
Other community members worry the school isn't doing enough, and petitioned for metal detectors, long-term plans for law enforcement, and at least temporary options for online learning.
“There are safety measures in place, and just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there, contrary to what you hear and see on the social media world," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a press conference Monday in front of the school.
Signs of support for Apalachee are sprinkled across Winder's storefronts. “PRAY FOR APALACHEE,” says a sign in the window of a local portrait store. “LOVE WILL PREVAIL/BARROW COUNTY STRONG,” reads another one outside of Walgreens. A chalk sign sits outside a cafe with the names of each victim who was killed in the shooting.
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon
FILE - A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
FILE - A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
