Kosovo Police Say Shots Heard in Direction of Officers Amid Tensions in North

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Kosovo police announced on Sunday that there had been shots in the direction of its officers amid the tensions in the northern part of the self-declared republic but no casualties so far.

Earlier in the day, the police shut down the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossing points, urging citizens to use other crossing points. Meanwhile, air raid sirens were heard in the disputed border town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Serbs are currently building barricades at narrow sections of roads, while Albanians are gathering en masse in the southern part of the town near a bridge to the northern part where a gathering of Serbs is taking place.

"The Kosovo police officially inform that shots were heard at several locations, with some of the shots was in the direction of police units, but, luckily, there have been no wounded," the police said in a statement.

The Kosovo authorities announced on Friday that starting August 1 Serbian-issued documents will be invalid and their owners will receive temporary certificates when entering Kosovo. At the same time, Kosovo will begin mandatory re-registration of vehicles with Serbian license plates, which will affect Serbians in the northern part of Kosovo and several other towns. Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic has described this as an attempt to create "hell" for local Serbs.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged the Albanians in Kosovo to "come to their senses" and Serbs in Kosovo to avoid succumbing to provocations or doing anything that could lead to a conflict. He stressed, however, that if a conflict indeed takes place, Serbia will emerge victorious.