KOSOVO - A court in Pristina on April 24th, convicted three men on

terrorism charges over a 2023 attack in northern Kosovo when Serb

gunmen stormed a village and battled police in a shootout that killed

four people, including a police officer. The court sentenced two of the

men to life in prison and the third one to 30 years in jail. Three other

gunmen and a Kosovar police officer were killed in the shootout, while

the rest of the assailants fled to Serbia on foot through hills, leaving

behind cars loaded with weapons, ammunition and explosives.

More than 40 others are also part of the indictment, but remain at

large, with Kosovo authorities saying they are hiding in Serbia.

The armed incident was the worst since the Balkan country declared

independence from Serbia in 2008. Kosovo has accused Serbia of

being behind the attack, claims that Belgrade denies. Serbia, which

lost control over Kosovo after NATO bombing in 1999, does not

recognize Pristina institutions and refuses to hand over its citizens to

authorities there. Some 50,000 Serbs who live in northern Kosovo

also do not recognize Pristina's institutions and see Belgrade as their

capital. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international

peacekeepers.