After alleged kidnapping: Kosovo closes borders for Serbian vehicles Last film by the late Carrie Fisher will be released

Following the alleged kidnapping of three Kosovo police officers by Serbian security forces, Kosovo has closed its borders to goods and vehicles from Serbia.

This is according to orders from Kosovo Customs and a statement from a government spokesman, which was reported by the media in Pristina late on Wednesday evening.

A few hours earlier, Serbian security forces had kidnapped three police officers in the northern border area with Serbia, according to Kosovars. The three had been investigating smuggling routes of Serbian criminals into Kosovo territory, Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said. The Serbian side denied this. She stated that the trio had been arrested in Serbia, nearly two kilometers from the border. The heavily armed men had planned a terrorist attack in Serbia.

Tensions have been rising between the two neighboring countries for months. Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize this and demands the return of its former province. Ethnic Serbs live almost exclusively in the north of Kosovo, while ethnic Albanians live almost exclusively in the rest of the country.

In late May, violent Serbs attacked soldiers from the NATO-led security force KFOR in northern Kosovo. Dozens were injured on both sides in the clashes. The trigger for the conflict was the appointment of mayors of ethnic Albanian origin, which resulted from elections boycotted by the Serbs at Belgrade’s insistence. (saw/sda/dpa)