Armed men storm Kosovo village

A group of about 30 "heavily armed" men opened fire at Kosovo police in a northern Kosovo village early yesterday, killing a policeman, and the same armed men also stormed a nearby Serbian Orthodox monastery in the first such major regional violence since May, Kosovo officials said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the interior minister Xhelal Svecla blamed the attack on police in the village and the storming of the monastery on "Serbia-sponsored criminals".

The Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Raska-Prizren said masked men forced their way into the monastery near Banjska in an armoured vehicle. Priests and pilgrims locked themselves inside the monastery's temple for safety, the diocese said, adding that gunfire was occasionally heard and that the armed men were moving around the monastery's courtyard.

There was no immediate reaction on the incident from Serbian officials. Local media reported that border police had closed two key border crossings with Serbia.