A post was published on the social media "Telegram" yesterday (August 11) claiming that Kosovo Police attacked 5 Serbs in northern Kosovo with weapons and bombs.
The Serbian-language Telegram channel named "BUNT је стајје духа" (Albanian: rebellion is a state of mind) claimed that, as described, "Albanian terrorists" last night "during the arrest/kidnapping for alleged smuggling, shot and threw a bomb at Serbs."
However, apart from the fact that the claim is unfounded, it has been denied by the Kosovo Police.
Screenshot of the post from the channel "БУНТ је стаје духа" on Telegram:
This post, published yesterday (July 21), has managed to accumulate over 19 thousand views as of the writing of this article.
The Serbian-language Telegram channel named "BUNT is a state of mind" does not provide information about ownership and the content it creates and publishes.
This channel, for the claim made, does not provide facts such as visual ones (photographs/video), statements from those involved in the events, or from any institution responsible for security in northern Kosovo (Kosovo Police, KFOR, EULEX).
In addition to the claim, the post also included two photographs showing three men (whose ages are unknown), whom this channel claims are (Želko Košanin, Jovan Đukić and Marko Milković) the Serbian detainees in this case.
Hibrid.info, after conducting its research, has not found any media reports or official statements regarding the identity of the arrested Serbs. Only the name of the arrested Albanian has been made public in the media, which is Besim Zeqiri, otherwise known as "Kaça". (here)
All media reports, as far as hibrid.info has been able to obtain through research on digital platforms, are based mainly on the official announcement of the Kosovo Police about yesterday's (August 11) action in the north.
Regarding the incident that occurred in the north, the Kosovo Police has provided details about the case, announcing that they were attacked by a group of people while they were fighting smuggling in the north, against whom they were forced to use firearms to avoid danger.
"To bring the situation under control, to avoid further attacks and to eliminate any possible danger to police officers, official equipment, specifically firearms, were used by the police officers involved in this case." (here)
As the Police announced, this intervention came within the framework of the fight to prevent and combat illegal acts, in particular smuggling, where in this case 5 people were arrested (4 Serbs and one Albanian) and 4 vehicles were seized, one of which was found to contain a quantity of cigarettes that were suspected of being smuggled through illegal routes from Serbia.
In their Facebook post, the Police also provide photographs showing a Mercedes-type van and several packages inside it.
The police responded to the case as part of the prevention of smuggling in the north, and not all of those arrested were from the Serbian community. Therefore, the attack was not directed at the Serbian community, as claimed in the post made by this Telegram channel.
Analyze:
From the fact-checking and analysis, it results that the claim made by “BUNT je stanje dukha” is completely unfounded. The facts that this Telegram channel claims to present to describe the claim made are not verified.
Furthermore, all the addresses that may be more credible in describing the situation (media, Kosovo Police, KFOR, EULX and other institutions) have not come up with any reaction that is similar to the claim of this Telegram channel.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info qualifies this claim as "misinformation".
Rating:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.