Kosovo says its investigation into an attack last weekend in a northern Kosovar village has turned up evidence showing that Serbia intended to annex northern Kosovo and that the attackers prepared at Serbian Army bases.
Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said on October 1 during a news conference in Mitrovica that more than 90 people took part in the attack in the village of Banjska on September 24. Three of the attackers and a Kosovar police officer were killed.
"Serbia has repeatedly tried to say that it has nothing to do with this attack, but the facts that will be published show that the preparations, training, and exercises of this group were carried out at the military training base near Jagodina and in Kopaonik,” Svecla said, referring to locations in Serbia.
He said images of the preparations can been seen in data obtained from drones that Kosovo seized.
The attackers also planned to open "a long underground channel" from Banjska to Serbia for "supplies from the Serbian state," he said.
Kosovo Police Director-General Gazmend Hoxha said the group that carried out the attack had been trained at Serbian bases for a long, unspecified period and the plan involved the annexation of northern Kosovo.
"In the documents we have, which we cannot share with you now, there is a plan for annexation of the north forest in an initial phase in 37 positions, from which our police units would be attacked, not only in Banjska and Zvecan but in all the northern parts," Hoxha said.
A corridor was then to be created to carry out armed resistance and "the creation of a new reality in the country," he said.
SEE ALSO: Who Was Behind The Deadly Attack At The Orthodox Monastery In Kosovo?Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Milos Vucevic and General Milan Mojsilovic, chief of the General Staff of the Serbian armed forces, called the allegations lies and scheduled a news conference on October 2 to respond.
Hoxha said the Kosovo Police are still investigating a week after the deadly attack.
Svecla said a quantity of weapons was found in Banjska on October 1. Police had already confiscated large quantities of weapons in the days after the attack.
After initially saying the attack was on the monastery, officials now say the Serbian attackers took refuge in the monastery after attacking a police patrol in an ambush. From the monastery they continued the confrontation with police, and three of them were killed.
Hoxha said the Serbian Orthodox Church and monastery were part of the investigation "to see their possible role in the attack or whether they helped the terrorist group."
Earlier on October 1 Kosovo called on Serbia to withdraw troops from its border region, vowing it was ready to protect its territorial integrity.
Serbia's president, meanwhile, denied Western reports of a military buildup, and complained about a "campaign of lies" against Serbia.
"We call on [Serbian] President [Aleksandar] Vucic and the institutions of Serbia to immediately withdraw all troops from the border with Kosovo," Kosovo's government said. "The deployment of Serbian troops along the border with Kosovo is the next step by Serbia to threaten the territorial integrity of our country."
In a video posted to Instagram on October 1, Vucic denied the U.S. and other Western reports of a buildup.
"A campaign of lies...has been launched against our Serbia," Vucic said. "They have lied a lot about the presence of our military forces.... In fact, they are bothered that Serbia has what they describe as sophisticated weapons."
The United States on September 29 accused Serbia of massing forces along the border and urged Belgrade to pull them back. NATO, which still has 4,500 troops in Kosovo, has ordered more troops to the area "to address the current situation."
NATO again called for calm and demanded that Belgrade and Pristina resume dialogue as soon as possible, as "the only way to achieve lasting peace," alliance spokesman Dylan White said.