Written by: Festim Rizanaj
"False flag operation" is the claim that the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs in Serbia, Milovan Drecun, has called the explosion in the Iber-Lepenc canal in Zubin Potok on December 29.
The claim was made in an article in the Serbian language media outlet "blic.rs", published on Wednesday (December 4). “'Pre-planned incident', Kurti's pre-election tricks and efforts to suppress Serbs: This is a 'false flag' operation”, is the title of this article.
Excerpts from the statements of Drecuni and Milivojevic, published by "blic.rs"
"In my opinion, this is a 'false flag operation', not a terrorist one. Kurti immediately took advantage of it to launch a well-prepared media and political campaign on the information front, all the more so since this shows that this is a hybrid operation."
"A false flag operation is when someone organizes a violent act and then plants evidence for it and accuses him, let's say, of causing it even though he was against it. And look, when they showed those uniforms with weapons, which were allegedly confiscated from a house. A shoulder bag with the KLA emblem was placed. They just wanted to show that the Serbs were ready to carry out a false flag operation, so they were carrying a bag with the KLA emblem. But you know, Kurti immediately came out with statements, without investigations, that it was about military explosives, that there were 15 kilograms, and if there were 15, they would all blow themselves up. Then, he accuses Belgrade and says that these explosives can only come from military warehouses and that they are not on the black market. These are lies, they are not facts."
Diplomat Zoran Milivojevic made a similar statement. As quoted by "blic.rs", he said that the incident was planned in advance.
"Absolutely they did. You can see that it was prepared in advance and that is completely clear. Secondly, the announcement itself shows that it was prepared in advance with a political platform."
According to him, the request of the Kosovo Security Force to enter the north was "key proof that everything was prepared in advance, because the army symbolizes statehood."
Drecun and Milivojevic have not presented any concrete or material evidence that could support and verify the veracity of their statements. Their statements remain without documented basis and without any clear argument that would give credibility to the claims they have expressed.
What does "false flag operation" mean?
A false flag operation is an action carried out with the intention of masking the actual source of responsibility and blaming another party. As written in Wikipedia for this term, it originates from the 16th century.
What is officially known about the explosion?
On November 29, Kosovo Police announced that the critical infrastructure of the “Ibër-Lepenc” water canal in the village of Varage, Zubin Potok, was attacked and damaged. According to the Police, the explosion was a deliberate attack (first announcement). On November 30, the Police announced eight arrests on suspicion of the recent attacks in the north. In CONFERENCE The Police also exhibited the uniforms and weapons seized during that day's action.
On November 29, in the evening, Prime Minister Albin Kurti held extraordinary press conferenceHe stated there that "The attack was carried out by professionals, it is the next criminal and terrorist attack that we believe comes from gangs directed and orchestrated by Serbia, which has both the interest and the willingness and the ability to cause such attacks and damage, in this specific case by using a large amount of explosives at a key node, where repair is difficult."
Serbia has denied the accusations.
In addition to the Kosovo authorities, European union has called the attack terrorist.
Analyze:
Milovan Drecun, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs in Serbia, has claimed that the explosion in the Iber-Lepenc canal in Zubin Potok on November 29 was staged by Kosovo to be attributed to Serbia.
However, he has not provided any facts for his claim.
His statement was published in the Serbian language media outlet "blic.rs", with the title: “'Pre-planned incident' Kurti's pre-election tricks and efforts to suppress Serbs: This is a 'false flag' operation.”
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Conspiracy Theory" and "Unsubstantiated Statement".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are considered to be informational content that contains a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event or person, presenting it as part or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). The characteristic of these contents is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any reliable evidence.
Unsubstantiated statements are assessments of statements that political and public figures with influence on public opinion make with claims that are not based on facts.