Bucharest, 3 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Serbian politician and businessman Milan Radoičić has been arrested and detained for 48 hours for his involvement in the attack on Kosovar police officers, the Serbian Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday.

A court is set to decide whether he will be remanded in custody for 30 days.

The prosecution accuses him of criminal acts in connection with the illegal production of explosive substances as well as the possession, carrying and sale of firearms.

He is also charged with serious offences against general security, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

During questioning, the suspect denied having committed these offences, the prosecutor's office said. However, days earlier Radoičić had publicly confessed to being involved in the attack.

Growing tensions boiled over on September 24 when at least 30 heavily armed Serbian paramilitaries engaged in fighting with the Kosovar police in the village of Banjska, also known as Bajskë, near Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.

Three Serbian attackers and a Kosovar policeman were killed.

Radoičić is active in politics in Kosovo as Vice President of the Serb List party, which represents Serb interests in the Pristina parliament.

On Monday, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti released drone images showing the paramilitary group training on Serbian "in Pasuljanske Livade, one of the Serbian Army's key bases," Kurti wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Kosovo, which is largely Albanian by population, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. While more than 100 countries have acknowledged its independence, Serbia, Russia, China and five EU member states have not.

Photo: MIA archive