A Kosovo police officer looks on, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, in Banjska village, Kosovo September 27, 2023.
REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The United States is monitoring a troubling Serbian military deployment along the border of Kosovo that is destabilizing the area, the White House said on Friday and called for the forces to be withdrawn.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Kosovo's peacekeeping force is going to be increasing its presence of NATO forces in northern Kosovo as a result of the tensions.
Kosovo authorities said police fought around 30 heavily armed Serbs who stormed the Kosovo village of Banjska on Sunday and barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery.
Kirby called "a large Serbian military deployment along the Kosovo border" a destabilizing development and called on Serbia to withdraw those forces and contribute to lowering tensions.
Persons:
Ognen, John Kirby, Kirby, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Steve Holland, David Ljunggren, Daniel Wallis
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, White House, NATO, Thomson
Locations:
Banjska village, Kosovo, United States, Banjska, Serbian, Serbia, NATO