Kosovska Mitrovica bombing suspect detained

Kosovska Mitrovica bombing suspect detained

On the day of the attack, Dibrani was with his father and sister, in a shop in the southern part of the town. Dibrani’s sister claims he was in the middle of the bridge at the moment of the explosion, and had started running scared toward the southern part, which caused the police to chase after him and arrest him.

The Kosovo media are also reporting on a possibility that the security cameras on the northern and southern ends of the bridge might have malfunctioned at the moment of the explosion.

UNMIK police: Serb leaders helped

UNMIK police has published a report on the events that followed the grenade explosion in a café in Kosovska Mitrovica. UNMIK police communicated that order was established in the wake of the attack, and reported on the events that immediately followed the attack: “Right after the attack, a group of people, approximately 500 strong, gathered around the cafe and at the northern end of the bridge, protesting the violence. The bridge was closed and access points barricaded as a result.”

“Another woman was injured as a result of the events that took place after the incident itself. The 57-year-old was in the passenger seat of a vehicle attempting to drive through a large number of people, and was hit by a stone. The vehicle continued to move through the crowd, passed the barricades and went across the bridge”, the police report says. The local media have earlier reported the woman in question was an Albanian and was hospitalized.

UNMIK’s regional commander Gary Smith said the rapid reaction and the cooperation with the Kosovo Police Service, as well as with the Serb leaders and KFOR, prevented the situation from spinning out of control. “Immediately after the explosion, KPS members who were positioned at the bridge apprehended the person believed to have been involved, and transferred him to the police station. On Saturday night in critical moments the leadership of the Serbian National Council helped UNMIK Police to keep the situation under control and defuse the tension”, Smith said.