Kosovo Shrugs off Militants' Threat

Kosovo's government has dismissed threats issued by a hitherto unknown guerrilla force, saying the group probably only existed on the internet.

Sazan Toplica, spokesperson for FASHE, was quoted as saying on Sunday that “Kosovo’s police should be part of Kosovo Republic Army.”

“If this demand of FASHE is not taken into consideration... the FASHE will be obliged to start armed actions in the northern part of the Republic of Kosovo,” Toplica added, referring to the part of northern Kosovo where the population is predominantly Serbian.

Toplica claimed that the FASHE had emerged as a result of a restructuring of the former guerrilla force, the Albanian National Army, ANA. However, on Monday, an ANA spokesperson denied any connection between their former group and the FASHE, calling the latter "a group of traitors".

In 2003, the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, branded ANA a terrorist group. It was supposed to disband in 2009.

Kosovo's interior minister, Bajram Rexhepi, meanwhile, said that all such groups were "virtual groups on the internet" and the government was not taking the latest ultimatum seriously.

“I consider those statements like children’s stories. We have our security forces in Kosovo, KFOR, EULEX and the Kosovo police,” Rexhepi told Balkan Insight.

“They are not inside Kosovo’s territory, so it seems they are somewhere in Albania,” Rexhepi told Balkan Insight, concerning the FASHE.