Who are the people who blocked the bridge to Banjska on the night between Saturday and Sunday, who led them, who armed and instructed them, what was their goal, and how did they escape to central Serbia? Who was hospitalized in Novi Pazar? Is anyone being treated at the VMA? Is there Milan Radoi?i? in the video published by the Kosovo Police Minister? Were the Serbian authorities and President Vu?i? involved in the case, and to what extent? Were only some parts of the Serbian security structures aware of what would happen with that, whether foreign services were also involved in the conflict, whether the Serbs who died were intentionally and sacrificed in advance - these are all questions to which we still do not have complete answers.

In the first open armed conflict between Serbs and Albanians after the pogrom in 2004, one Kosovo policeman and three Serbs were killed. The skirmish began in Banjska on the night between Saturday and Sunday, around 2:30 a.m., when the Serbs blocked the bridge leading to the center of the town with trucks.

When the Kosovo police arrived, the Serbs shot and killed the policeman.

The shooting continued during the day when the Eparchy of Raško-Prizren announced that armed, masked people broke into the monastery in an armored vehicle and broke through the locked monastery gate.

After a clash with Kosovo forces, a group of Serbs left the monastery, and it was reported from Pristina that some of the attackers were arrested.

Media fog in central Serbia 

The public received the first information about the event from the address of Kosovo officials Aljbin Kurti and Vjosa Osmani, who announced that one Kosovo policeman was killed and another wounded in an attack in the village of Banjska, immediately judging that it was a terrorist attack and organized crime with help from Belgrade, which was followed by official announcements from Kosovo institutions.

During that time, in central Serbia - media fog.

Radio Television of Serbia and television with a national frequency were conspicuously silent; there were no live broadcasts, special shows, or analyst comments.

Portals narrowly reported that a Kosovo policeman had been killed, that the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings were blocked, and that tension was growing in the north of Kosovo and Metohija.

The news that there was an armed conflict between Serbs and Albanians in the north of Kosovo and that an Albanian policeman was killed was only commented on by the Speaker of the Parliament, Vladimir Orli?, who, by chance, was a guest on a television station with a national frequency and briefly said that violence and open escalation are only suitable for Aljbin Kurti.

Around noon, the Diocese of Raško-Prizren announced in a statement that a group of armed, masked people attacked the Banjska monastery in an armored vehicle and that it strongly condemns the latest attack that took place in the north of Kosovo, with condolences to the family of the fallen policeman.

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovi?, first announced a press conference at 2 p.m. and soon canceled it, stating that President Aleksandar Vu?i? would address the public in the afternoon.

In the meantime, Kfor, Eulex, ambassadors of Quinte, Miroslav Lajcak, Josep Borel, Oliver Varhelji, and Edi Rama spoke up... but it was still not known who the attackers were who participated in the clash with the Kosovo police and why the conflict occurred.

This was not clear even after the Kosovo police, around 3:30 p.m., announced that one of the attackers, whom they had already characterized as terrorists, had been killed and two more attackers had been killed.

Around 19:00, the Eparchy of Raško-Prizren announced that the situation in the monastery was peaceful and that the armed persons had left the port, and the media reported that those arrested in Banjska were taken to the police station in southern Mitrovica.

It wasnt until 8:00 p.m. that President Aleksandar Vu?i? addressed the public, who said that three Kosovo Serbs were killed in the conflict, that the Serbian army and police did not participate in the attack, but that the Serbs rebelled, not wanting to endure Kurtis terror anymore.

But he did not say the identity of the killed Serbs.

Pochu?a, Bihali, Wagner, Milan Radoi?i?

The true identity of the murdered Serbs was first published on social networks, and some media reported it. Still, their names were first officially announced by President Aleksandar Vu?i? in an RTS address on September 27.

During all these days, a lot of information circulated on social networks and portals, from the fact that Radomir Po?u?a and Pavle Bihali were killed in Kosovo and Metohija, that members of Obraz and Russian Wagner participated in the incident, that armed persons held believers and monks in the monastery Spa.

Visoki De?ani Monastery warned on Monday about a series of disinformation and fake news spreading after the conflict, especially in the Kosovo media, saying that malicious attacks and false information do not contribute to peace but only increase inter-ethnic tensions in Kosovo.

On social networks, but also in the media, there was bidding on how many attackers were killed - the media reported that the fourth attacker had also died, which was not valid. In contrast, some accounts on social networks announced that there were up to ten victims.

There were also bids on the networks about who the murdered persons were, so there were announcements that Radomir Po?u?a, a pro-Russian former journalist, as well as the leader of the right-wing Leviathan movement, Pavle Bihali, were among the murdered.

Information circulated on social networks that the attackers had the support of the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

A new reason for doubting the veracity of the published information was given by the Minister of Police, Dzelal Sve?lja, who directly accused the controversial businessman and vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoi?i?, of the attack, citing that his documents, as well as maps and plans for attacking the police, were found on the spot.

Sve?lja also published a video from the Banjska monastery in which, he claims, the armed vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoi?i?, can be seen.

The authenticity of that video cannot be determined.

President Aleksandar Vu?i? neither denied nor confirmed that Radoi?i? was in the video. At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, asserted that the video shows snow and, therefore, cannot be authentic.

A drone video appeared on the Internet showing people retreating from the monastery over the hill.

In the meantime, the data from the Kosovo Prosecutors Office on the number of arrested persons were also confused, so it was unclear how many persons were arrested and how many were released from custody for a while.

There was also a lot of confusion about who was in the hospital in Novi Pazar, the medical facility in central Serbia closest to where the conflict occurred.

Journalists did not get official information about whether and how many people were being treated in that institution and what their injuries were. Still, the news came through other channels, which is not usual for that hospital.

The media reported a visible presence of police officers outside the Novi Pazar hospital, who were not there two days later.

Another unverified piece of information spread by Sve?lja was that Radoi?i? was injured and was being treated at the VMA, which President Vu?i? denied.

It is still unclear what happened

The fight with disinformation, half-information, and fake news is not atypical for the relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Still, it became very noticeable after the latest conflict with fatal outcomes.

Citizens in central Serbia and Kosovo are still unclear about what actually happened, why, and how this will end - whether the gun has already gone off or if this was just the first act of a new drama being written.

^{North Macedonian Media Partner Link https://www.slobodenpecat.mk/kako-sme-neinformirani-za-konfliktot-na-severot-na-kosovo/}