Banjska, Kosovo, September 25, 2023
Photo: eparhija-prizren.com
A group of about 30 heavily armed men stormed a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Kosovo in an armored vehicle yesterday morning after opening fire on the police.
The local Diocese of Raška and Prizren reported that the brotherhood and pilgrims to Banjska Monastery had locked themselves inside the church for safety as the men continue to roam around the monastery:
The Diocese is very concerned because according to the latest information, a group of armed, masked men stormed the Banjska Monastery in an armored vehicle, breaking into the monastery’s locked gate. Currently, there is a group of pilgrims from Novi Sad in the monastery, together with the abbot, Father Danilo with monastic brotherhood.
For safety, the monastery’s brotherhood and pilgrims have locked themselves inside, and the monastery’s temple is also locked down. Armed masked men move around the courtyard and occasional gunshots are heard.
An armed man could be seen with a priest inside the monastery in Banjska on Sunday. Photo: bbc.com
“We can see armed people in uniforms... They are firing on us and we are firing back,” a Kosovo police official reported by phone from Banjska, reports BBC.
The diocese also condemns the slaying of the police officer and the open violence being used at the monastery, “urging all sides to end the conflict as soon as possible.”
The men opened fire on the police early Sunday morning in a northern Kosovo village, killing one police officer and injuring two others. Tensions are high in Kosovo since a disputed local election in May.
Banjska Monastery and its Church of St. Stephen were built in the early-14th century, founded by Serbian King Stefan Milutin.
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