MUP: Attack in south was terrorism

A member of a multi-ethnic police unit in Bujanovac, southern Serbia, was seriously injured on Sunday in an explosion. Reports said that his wife, and two young women who were passing by, sustained minor wounds in the incident. All four are ethnic Albanians. MUP: Attack in south was terrorism The bomb was planted under a Serbian police (MUP) vehicle, while the officer was identified as Blerim Mustafa, 39. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic confirmed the incident and said that Mustafa has a fractured leg and ribs, while his wife, and the passers-by, were not seriously hurt. The car exploded several hundred meters away from the municipal building in this town, in an ethnic Albanian neighborhood. "There are indications that this was a terrorist attack," said Dacic. The reason for this, according to the minister, is because the victims were "not only MUP members but also regular citizens". Mustafa was transported to Belgrade for treatment today, where Emergency Center Director Vladimir Djukic said that his condition was serious, and that he had suffered injuries to both his legs, ribcage, and head. Dacic was there as the officer was brought to Belgrade, and told reporters that MUP will do all they can to make sure that this terrorist act does not further jeopardize the political stability and the life of all communities that live in the southern area. "I can assure you that we will not allow for the crossing over of some terrorist groups from the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, and from parts of Macedonia, into southern Serbia, in order to engage in such acts of terrorism," said the minister. Dacic also revealed that the investigation of the scene so far showed that the explosives were not planted "professionally", and that otherwise the blast could have killed the officer and all those close to the site. Police Director Milorad Veljovic was in Bujanovac today where he said that the attack, staged ahead of Statehood Day celebrations, was a terrorist message to the state, and that the state would "respond adequately". "We will not allow the constitutional order to be endangered in this region and we will embark on a decisive battle against terrorism," said he. Veljovic added that terrorists "should not be in the streets, but in jails", and that all security services deployed in the south will work to fully solve the case. Dacic said that the investigation would reveal the attackers' motives, but that he believed it was organized by Albanians who were against the multi-ethnic police. The Mustafa family was twice before the target of terrorist attacks: first in 2000, when Blerim's uncle Cemal was killed, and then in 2005, when his brother Besnik was wounded. The volatile southern region, known informally as the Presevo valley, is home to the largest ethnic Albanian community in Serbia outside of Kosovo. After the 1999 war in the province, the conflict there escalated, but was resolved through international mediation in 2001. More recently, a police car was blown up in front of the Bujanovac police station in the summer of 2008, while in Septamber 2009, police found a large cache of weapons buried in a fuel tank in the municipality of Konculj. MUP's elite Gendarmerie (Zandarmerija) force, which patrols the area, also came under attack last year, while another explosion in front of a residential building was recorded a short while later.

MUP: Attack in south was terrorism

The bomb was planted under a Serbian police (MUP) vehicle, while the officer was identified as Blerim Mustafa, 39.

Interior Minister Ivica Dačić confirmed the incident and said that Mustafa has a fractured leg and ribs, while his wife, and the passers-by, were not seriously hurt.

The car exploded several hundred meters away from the municipal building in this town, in an ethnic Albanian neighborhood. "There are indications that this was a terrorist attack," said Dačić.

The reason for this, according to the minister, is because the victims were "not only MUP members but also regular citizens".

Mustafa was transported to Belgrade for treatment today, where Emergency Center Director Vladimir Đukić said that his condition was serious, and that he had suffered injuries to both his legs, ribcage, and head.

Dačić was there as the officer was brought to Belgrade, and told reporters that MUP will do all they can to make sure that this terrorist act does not further jeopardize the political stability and the life of all communities that live in the southern area.

"I can assure you that we will not allow for the crossing over of some terrorist groups from the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, and from parts of Macedonia, into southern Serbia, in order to engage in such acts of terrorism," said the minister.

Dačić also revealed that the investigation of the scene so far showed that the explosives were not planted "professionally", and that otherwise the blast could have killed the officer and all those close to the site.

Police Director Milorad Veljović was in Bujanovac today where he said that the attack, staged ahead of Statehood Day celebrations, was a terrorist message to the state, and that the state would "respond adequately".

"We will not allow the constitutional order to be endangered in this region and we will embark on a decisive battle against terrorism," said he.

Veljović added that terrorists "should not be in the streets, but in jails", and that all security services deployed in the south will work to fully solve the case.

Dačić said that the investigation would reveal the attackers' motives, but that he believed it was organized by Albanians who were against the multi-ethnic police.

The Mustafa family was twice before the target of terrorist attacks: first in 2000, when Blerim's uncle Cemal was killed, and then in 2005, when his brother Besnik was wounded.

The volatile southern region, known informally as the Preševo valley, is home to the largest ethnic Albanian community in Serbia outside of Kosovo.

After the 1999 war in the province, the conflict there escalated, but was resolved through international mediation in 2001.

More recently, a police car was blown up in front of the Bujanovac police station in the summer of 2008, while in Septamber 2009, police found a large cache of weapons buried in a fuel tank in the municipality of Končulj.

MUP's elite Gendarmerie (Žandarmerija) force, which patrols the area, also came under attack last year, while another explosion in front of a residential building was recorded a short while later.