US warns of large Serbian military build-up near Kosovo
Sunday, 1 October 2023
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP): The United States urged Belgrade to pull its forces back from the border with Kosovo on Friday after detecting what it called an "unprecedented" Serbian military build-up.
Serbia deployed sophisticated tanks and artillery on the frontier after deadly clashes erupted at a monastery in northern Kosovo last week, the White House warned.
The violence -- in which a Kosovo police officer and three Serb gunmen were killed -- marked one of the gravest escalations for years in Kosovo, a former Serbian breakaway province.
"We are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
"That includes an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, mechanized infantry units. We believe that this is a very destabilizing development."