A European Union police officer was shot and killed while on patrol in Kosovo Thursday morning, the first casualty since the EU took over security there in 2008,
the BBC reported.
The EU in Kosovo has not released the name of the slain officer, who was shot when a pair of EU security vehicles came under fire in the Mitrovica area of northern Kosovo at approximately 7:30 A.M. local time.
The town of Mitrovica, which is split between ethnic Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, has been a flashpoint of tension and violence in recent years, according to the BBC.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and the EU took control of police, justice, and customs services.
Religious and ethnic tensions have since persisted in northern Kosovo, which has a sizable Serbian minority. Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority is mostly Muslim, while the Serbs are Christians.
However, in April Kosovo and Serbia signed an EU-brokered agreement normalizing relations which provides considerable autonomy to Serb-majority areas.
Municipal elections in Kosovo are scheduled to take place Nov. 3.
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