A court in Kosovo has sentenced two Kosovo Serbs to life imprisonment and another to a 30-year jail term for taking part in what it described as a 'terrorist' attack in September 2023.


The men were found guilty of violating Kosovo's constitutional order and inciting terrorist activities. Prosecutors have charged 45 people in total - but they believe most of them are in Serbia and unlikely to be handed over.


The 'Banjska incident' is a prosaic label for one of the most dramatic, dangerous, and deadly days Kosovo has seen since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.


A police officer and three members of an armed group of Kosovo Serbs died during several hours of shooting in northern Kosovo.


On Friday, the court in Kosovo's capital Pristina sentenced Vladimir Tolić and Blagoj Spasojević to life in prison and Dušan Maksimović to 30 years in prison.


Kosovo's acting President Albulena Haxhiu welcomed the verdict, describing it as 'proof that the attack on the Kosovo police, on the constitutional order and on the security of our country will not remain unpunished.'


Despite the convictions, many questions remain over what happened in the village of Banjska. Authorities in Pristina maintain that Serbia's government in Belgrade was ultimately responsible, though it is unclear what the armed group actually hoped to achieve.


The shooting started when police responded to a lorry blockade set up on a bridge in the early hours of Sunday, September 24. A group of about 30 men attacked the officers with guns and grenades. Sgt Afrim Bunjaku was killed, while two colleagues were injured.


As tension escalated, the armed group retreated to the nearby 14th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery, where they barricaded themselves inside, leading to a protracted standoff with police.


Although three members of the armed group were killed, the remaining assailants managed to escape despite being surrounded by police special forces.


The aftermath of the attack has strained relations between Kosovo and Serbia, with multiple attempts to revive EU-mediated normalization talks stalling in light of the incident. Kosovo's Interior Minister, Xhelal Sveçla, called for Serbia to be held accountable for its role in the aggression.