PRISHTINA, Dec 1 /ATA/ – Kosovo police have arrested eight people and seized explosives and a haul of weapons following a late Friday night blast at the Ibër-Lepenc canal in the country’s north, accusing them of plotting a major terror attack.
Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla said on Saturday that security authorities and the country’s Intelligence Service officers raided ten locations in northern Kosovo, uncovering evidence of what he called a “well-planned assault” on critical infrastructure.
Speaking at an extraordinary press conference, Interior Minister said that the blast at the Ibër-Lepenc canal in the village of Varragë, Zubin Potok municipality, had caused significant damage to the water supply infrastructure, and urged Kosovo authorities to accuse Serbia of “a criminal terror attack” against the country’s critical infrastructure.
He said that the attack was the most serious against Kosovo’s critical infrastructure after the war in 1998-1999.
“The attack wasn’t random. It was an organized attack aimed at causing maximum damage to Kosovo,” Sveçla said.
Sveçla highlighted raids uncovered a shocking haul, including over 200 military uniforms, six handheld rocket launchers, grenades, AK-47s, and other weapons. Police also seized fuses, helmets, masks, and knives.
In his remarks at the joint press conference with the Interior Minister Sveçla, Kosovo Police Chief Gazmend Hoxha said that around 15 to 20 kilograms of explosives, packed into a black bag and detonated with a slow-burning fuse, are believed to have been used to destroy the Ibër-Lepenc canal.
Hoxha underlined that the attack caused serious damages, causing water supply interruption to many areas and localities.
/REL/u.sh/
