Kosovo designates two Serb groups as terrorist organisations

Kosovo’s government labelled two Serb groups as terrorist organisations on Thursday in a move that could fuel further tensions in country’s volatile north which has seen the worst ethnic violence since the 2008 declaration of independence.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti told a session of the cabinet that Civil Protection (Civilna Zastita) and the North Brigade (Severna Brigada) posed a high level of “threat and danger”.

He said the two groups had been “recruiting and training members how to use weapons and carry other combat methods in military bases in Serbia in order to carry out attacks on local and international institutions in Kosovo”.

Serbs, who form the majority in the north of Kosovo, say that Civilna Zastita was dissolved in 2015 when Serbs agreed to join Kosovo institutions including police and judiciary and participated in the local election for the first time.

It is not clear who the Severna Brigada represents, when it was established or how it operates. Last year graffiti signed by the group appeared on the streets in the north.

Read more: Reuters