Serbia lowers number of troops near Kosovo, army chief of staff says

FILE PHOTO: Kosovo police officers patrol, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, in Banjska village, Kosovo September 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski/File Photo

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia has withdrawn some troops stationed near the border with Kosovo, after having increased the numbers deployed there following a gun battle in northern Kosovo in which four people died, army commander General Milan Mojsilovic said on Monday.

Tensions between Belgrade and Pristina soared since Sept. 24, when Kosovo police near the northern Kosovo's village of Banjska fought around 30 armed Serbs who barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Three attackers and one police officer were killed.