Kosovo Interior Minister Jellal Svechla said on Saturday that police had arrested eight people after an explosion hit a canal that sends water to the two main power plants, an incident Pristina described as a “terrorist act” by neighboring countries Serbia.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied what he said were “baseless allegations” of Belgrade’s involvement in the incident, which happened at around 19:00 (18:00 GMT) on Friday.
“Somehow we were able to repair the damage, arrest the suspects and confiscate a huge arsenal of weapons,” Svekla said during a live news conference.
Police commander Gazmend Hoxha said those arrested “are suspected of inciting, organizing and even carrying out these recent terrorist acts and in particular the one in the Iber Lepenec canal.”
Hoxha said the initial investigation showed that between 15 and 20 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.
Police raided 10 locations, seizing more than 200 military uniforms, six shoulder-fired rocket launchers, long weapons, pistols and ammunition, he added.
Police said most of the people arrested belonged to the local Serbian organization Civilna Zaštita (Civil Protection), which the government in Kosovo has been declared a terrorist organization.
Reuters was unable to contact the group.
The explosion increased the tension between the two Balkan countries. Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against his rule, but Serbia has not recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
Relations remain particularly tense in the north of the country, where the explosion took place and where the Serb minority refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and still sees Belgrade as its capital.
Kosovo’s security council, which held emergency talks early Saturday, said it had activated armed forces to prevent such attacks.
Security had already been stepped up after two recent attacks in which hand grenades were thrown at a police station and a municipality building in northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs live.
“The Security Council approved additional measures to strengthen security around critical facilities and services such as bridges, transformer stations, aerials, lakes, canals,” the council said in a statement on Saturday.
NATO, which has maintained a peacekeeping force in Kosovo since 1999, condemned the attack in a statement on Saturday. Its personnel ensured the security of the canal and the surrounding area after the blast, it said.
A Reuters reporter visited the site on Saturday, where silt poured through a hole in the canal’s concrete wall. Workers had installed a series of large pipes to bypass the leak.
Power supplies appeared largely intact, but potable water supplies were cut off in some areas.
Economy Minister Artane Rizvanoli said Kosovo was coordinating with the Albanian energy company to secure more electricity. She said water would be trucked to the affected areas.
