The Serbian police detained about 1,000 undocumented migrants on the border with Hungary following a shootout between migrants and smugglers, with weapons and symbols of Kosovo extremists found during searches, Dragan Vasiljevic, police assistant director, told Radio Television of Serbia
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2022) The Serbian police detained about 1,000 undocumented migrants on the border with Hungary following a shootout between migrants and smugglers, with weapons and symbols of Kosovo extremists found during searches, Dragan Vasiljevic, police assistant director, told Radio Television of Serbia.
On Thursday night, Serbian police received reports about a shootout in Horgos, a village on the border with Hungary. Arriving at the scene, police officers found six migrants, with one of them wounded twice in the chest by gunshots. It was established that the shootout took place between migrants and smugglers. Following the incident, the Serbian Internal Ministry searched an illegal camp on the border with Hungary and transferred migrants to reception centers in the south of the country.
"As for the armed incident on Thursday the shootout between groups of smugglers and illegal migrants the police have immediately reacted and have been taking intensive measures to find the perpetrators. They are mostly citizens of Afghanistan and Morocco," Vasiljevic told the broadcaster.
The six migrants went to the hospital in the Serbian city of Subotica to treat their injuries, the official said, adding that they were currently under police surveillance.
According to Vasiljevic, during the searches of migrants and smugglers, the police found automatic weapons, pistols and cartridges for them. Some of the suspects also had symbols of the Kosovo Liberation Army on their hats, scarves, and baseball caps. The Serbian internal ministry used helicopters and drones to inspect the region, the police official added.
The area in the north of Serbia near the border with Hungary has been a place of mass concentrations of migrants and smugglers since the beginning of the European migration crisis in 2015. The situation took a turn for the worse in 2022 due to the Ukraine conflict. Local residents have repeatedly complained both to the Serbian and Hungarian authorities about the threat to their property and safety.
