Bombay Durpun - Kosovo arrests blast suspects, Serbia denies involvement

The explosion Friday near the town of Zubin Potok, which sits in an ethnic Serb-dominated area in Kosovo's troubled north, damaged a canal that supplies water to hundreds of thousands of people and cooling systems at two coal-fired power plants that generate most of Kosovo's electricity.

As security forces swarmed the area around the canal, whose concrete walls were left with a gaping hole gushing water, Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the site and announced authorities had arrested several people.

Law enforcement "carried out searches" and "collected testimony and evidence, and the criminals and terrorists will have to face justice and the law," he said.

The arrests follow a security meeting late Friday, when Kurti pointed the finger at Serbia.

"The attack was carried out by professionals. We believe it comes from gangs directed by Serbia," he told a press conference, without providing evidence.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hit back Saturday, denying the "irresponsible" and "baseless accusations".

"Such unfounded claims are aimed to tarnish Serbia's reputation, as well as to undermine efforts to promote peace and stability in the region," he said in a statement to AFP.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric had earlier suggested on X that the Kosovar "regime" could itself be behind the blast, calling for an international investigation.

The main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, Serb List, also condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".

AFP journalists at the scene saw water leaking heavily from one side of the reinforced canal, which runs from the Serb-majority north of Kosovo to the capital, Pristina.

However, electricity supplies to consumers were running smoothly on Saturday morning, with authorities having found an alternative method to cool the plants, said Kosovo's Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli.

Repair work was ongoing, authorities said, while Kurti confirmed workers had managed to restore water flows to 25 percent capacity.

- Fears of 'escalation' -

The United States strongly condemned the "attack on critical infrastructure in Kosovo", the US embassy in Pristina said in a statement on Facebook.

"We are monitoring the situation closely... and have offered our full support to the government of Kosovo to ensure that those responsible for this criminal attack are identified and held accountable."

Turkey's foreign ministry also condemned the attack, adding: "We call on all parties to exercise restraint to avoid escalation in the region."

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission for Kosovo joined the calls for restraint.

"It is important that facts are established and that those responsible are held accountable and brought to justice," it said in a statement.

The force is providing security in the surrounding area and has offered logistical, explosives removal and engineering support to the Kosovo authorities, it added.

The European Union's ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav, joined the international condemnation, saying on X: "The incident needs to be investigated and those responsible brought to justice."

Animosity between ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the end of the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move that Serbia has refused to acknowledge.

Kurti's government has for months sought to dismantle a parallel system of social services and political offices backed by Belgrade to serve Kosovo's Serbs.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Saturday denounced "the act of sabotage on the critical water supply infrastructure in the Iber-Lepenc Canal" in comments on X, calling it "a serious crime that endangers the lives of Kosovo's citizens and undermines the process of normalizing relations in our region."

Friday's attack came after a series of violent incidents in northern Kosovo, including the hurling of hand grenades at a municipal building and a police station earlier this week.

D.Wason--BD