Local Serbs obstructing highways and Kosovo police exchange gunfire

After tensions in the volatile north of the country erupted, Kosovo Serbs and the local police traded gunfire on Saturday.

A former member of the Kosovo police who resigned from his position last month along with other ethnic Serbs was arrested earlier in the day, and Serbs from northern Kosovo blocked major roads in the area to protest.

Kosovo’s president, Vjosa Osmani, declared on Saturday that municipal elections in that region will be postponed until April 23 due to the escalating conflict in the region’s predominately Serb north. Elections were scheduled for December 18, but Serbs declared they would abstain.