Kosovo arrests nine Serbs on suspicion of war crimes

Kosovo police arrested nine Serbs on Sunday in the northern town of Zubin Potok on suspicion of war crimes allegedly committed during the 1990s war for independence from Serbia, authorities said.

The arrests follow the excavation in July and August of two newly discovered mass graves in the Serb-majority Zubin Potok area, where the remains of at least 23 people were found.

The remains are believed to include members of the so-called "Group of Intellectuals": Albanians from Mitrovica, including doctors, professors and human rights activists, who disappeared in April 1999.

Three sets of remains have been identified as belonging to members of the group, authorities confirmed earlier this month.

Kosovo police and the Special Prosecutor's Office confirmed in a joint statement that Sunday's operation, codenamed "Dossier 23", was related to the case of the missing intellectuals.

No further details were disclosed, including the identities of those arrested.

But Serbia's government office for Kosovo condemned the operation, saying "nine Serbs were arrested under the pretext of alleged involvement in a war crime".

"The aim was to put additional pressure on Zubin Potok, drive out and intimidate the remaining Serbian population," the statement added.

The police operation was part of a months-long war crimes investigation in the Zubin Potok area following the discovery of the mass graves.

Three other suspects from the area had previously been arrested as part of the investigation.

The 1998-1999 war between independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces killed around 13,000 people and left around 4,000 missing.

Decades of efforts to locate mass graves have recovered the remains of thousands, but around 1,600 people remain missing.

Efforts to locate those who disappeared during the conflict have been slow, with relations between Belgrade -- which does not recognise Kosovo's independence -- and Pristina remaining strained.