Kosovo Security Force enters North Mitrovica, Elshani claims “mistaken location”

According to multiple eyewitnesses who contacted KoSSev, the convoy — consisting of nearly ten vehicles, including several Humvees and three or four empty trucks — was seen passing through the main street shortly before 10:30 am. KoSSev added that the KSF members reportedly stayed parked near the gas station, close to the main police station, for about five to ten minutes.

“At first we couldn’t tell what kind of vehicles they were; we thought they were KFOR, but soon the KSF markings became visible, and drivers on the road started honking,” witnesses told KoSSev.

Other residents who happened to be nearby at the time said they also initially believed the vehicles belonged to KFOR.

Elshni: They got lost

Kosovo Police Deputy Commander for the North region Veton Elshani, confirmed that the vehicles belonged to the Kosovo Security Force. He said, however, that they stayed at the gas station for only about five minutes.

“Police officers noticed them, approached, and asked what was going on. They told us they had mistaken the location and thought they were in South Mitrovica,” Elshani told KoSSev, adding that the KSF personnel were not armed.

Asked how a formation like the KSF could confuse North and South Mitrovica - towns separated by the Ibar River - Elshani replied that this was “a good question, but one for the KSF.”

Kosovska Mitrovica is divided by the Ibar River into the Serb-dominated North Mitrovica and South Mitrovica, which has an ethnic Albanian majority.

KoSSev has reached out to KFOR for comment.

Under current regulations, Kosovo Security Force units are not permitted to enter the northern municipalities without explicit permission from the KFOR commander.