PRISTINA, Nov 30, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Kosovo stepped up security measures around
"critical" infrastructure Saturday after an explosion at a key canal feeding
two of its main power plants, as neighbouring Serbia rejected accusations it
had staged the blast.

The explosion occurred Friday near the town of Zubin Potok in a Serb-
dominated area in Kosovo's troubled north, damaging the canal supplying water
to cooling systems at two coal-fired power plants that generate most of
Kosovo's electricity.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti called a security meeting late Friday, saying:
"This is a criminal and terrorist attack aimed at damaging our critical
infrastructure".

"The attack was carried out by professionals. We believe it comes from gangs
directed by Serbia," he added without providing any evidence.

The government later issued a statement echoing his allegations, saying that
"initial indications suggest" the explosion had been "orchestrated by the
Serbian state, which has the capacity to carry out such a criminal and
terrorist attack".

Kosovo also "approved additional measures to strengthen security around
essential infrastructure and services, such as bridges, transformers" and
other sites, it said.

Serbia slapped back Saturday condemning the attack, while calling the
accusation "premature" and "baseless".

"Such destructive actions are unacceptable and threaten the fragile stability
we are striving to maintain," Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said on
X.

"Serbia unequivocally demands responsibility for the perpetrators of this
reckless attack," he added, while suggesting the Kosovar "regime" could be
behind the blast and calling for an internationally-led investigation.

The main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, Serb List, also
condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".

Pictures from the scene published by local media showed water leaking heavily
from one side of the reinforced canal, which runs from the Serb-majority
north of Kosovo to the capital Pristina and also supplies drinking water.

However, electricity suppplies to consumers were running smoothly on Saturday
morning, with authorities having found an alternative method to cooling the
plants, Kosovo's Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli said.

Repair work was ongoing, authorities said.

-'Criminal attack' -

The United States strongly condemned the "attack on critical infrastructure
in Kosovo", the US embassy in Pristina said in a statement on Facebook.

"We are monitoring the situation closely... and have offered our full support
to the government of Kosovo to ensure that those responsible for this
criminal attack are identified and held accountable."

The European Union's ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav, also condemned the
attack while calling for an investigation.

"I have already offered EU's help to Kosovo's authorities. The incident needs
to be investigated and those responsible brought to justice," he said on X.

Animosity between ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo and Serbia has persisted
since the end of the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian
insurgents in the late 1990s.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move that Serbia has refused to
acknowledge.

Kurti's government has for months sought to dismantle a parallel system of
social services and political offices backed by Belgrade to serve Kosovo's
Serbs.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Saturday denounced "the act of sabotage
on the critical water supply infrastructure in the Iber-Lepenc Canal" as "a
serious crime that endangers the lives of Kosova's citizens and undermines
the process of normalizing relations in our region."

"This criminal act must be investigated and punished as soon as possible,
with the support of international partners," he said on X.

Friday's attack came after a series of violent incidents in northern Kosovo,
including the hurling of hand grenades at a municipal building and a police
station earlier this week.