On a fateful Sunday, Kosovo witnessed a standoff between 30 gunmen and the Kosovo authorities at a monastery near the border with Serbia. The siege of the monastery ended in the night after authorities called a police operation to gain control of the situation. “We have put this territory under control. It was done after several consecutive battles,” said Xhelal Svecla, Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo.

Early in the day, a police patrol was ambushed near the village of Banjska in a complex attack, taking the life of one law enforcement officer and injuring another. Later, the gunmen took refuge in a monastery. The police shot dead three assailants during the gunfire. Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, condemned the attack targeting the police. He also added, “The responsible perpetrators must face justice.”

The attack comes a week after talks between the Serbian and Kosovan leaders for the improvement of the relationship failed to advance. The talks were being negotiated in Brussels by the European Union. Tensions have further escalated following the Kosovo government’s decision to appoint a Mayor of Albanian ethnicity in four Serb-majority municipalities in May.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have a long history of conflict since Kosovo’s independence in 2008, achieved with the help of NATO forces in a bloody war that killed thousands. Belgrade and a few other countries, including India and China, are yet to recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation, blocking its United Nations membership.

-Anushka Upadhyay