Dezinforms for armed attack on Kosovo

Since the first news of armed attacks on Kosovo police on 24 September, a kind of cyber-information combat has been launched on social networks.

It's confirmed who the attackers are, what their motives are and who supports them, false photos of locations and attackers have been published, as well as statements not issued by official and verified sources.

Dezinforms spread from both sides, both in Kosovo's digital space and in that of Serbia.

Where Did the Attack Happen?

Initially, numerous media in Kosovo and various accounts on social networks wrongly reported the location of the attack.

Several times it was reported that the event took place in Leposaviq one of the four municipalities in northern Kosovo, inhabited by Serb majority.

However, the attack has occurred in the village of Banjska of the Zvecan municipality, just over 24 kilometers [24 km] from Leposaviqi.

A post on the social network Facebook has taken photos of weapons and has wrongly claimed that Kosovo police have seized them in Leposavic.

Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla accused Serbian List Deputy Chairman Milan Radojic of organising and participating in the attack of about 30 people armed to Kosovo police, in the village of Banjska in the north, where police officer Africa Bulnjak remained killed and several others were injured.

In clashes with police, three attackers also died.

Kosovo authorities accused Serbia of supporting “terrorists”, while one day after the attack, police published details of the origin and models of the weapons seized.

Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, said masked attackers have been Serbs from northern Kosovo, but did not reveal their identity.

He said those “have rebelled” because “have no longer wanted to suffer the terror of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whom he called the only “guilty of events in northern Kosovo.

Where did the other attackers go?

Kosovo authorities did not disclose what happened to other members of the group who have organised the attack on Kosovo police.

Various information about them was distributed on certain social networks and media.

On the morning of September 24 and 25th, information was spread to the networks that attackers used tunnels to exit the Banjsca monastery, where they were originally isolated.

The Orthodox “Manisters are generally built with underground tunnels”, said in one of the Facebook comments, where the attackers allegedly used them to escape.

But on September 26th, the Government of Kosovo released a video of masked persons fleeing into the hills, near the Banjsca monastery.

Photographs of soldiers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine

Describing that it was a <x0terrorist “killed by Kosovo police at the monastery in Banjska, on September 25th on social networks was distributed the photograph of a soldier from Azerbaijan who was originally published on April 6, 2016.

Radio Reporters Free Europe found the site where the photograph was originally published. The signed author is Karo Sahakyan, while the photograph shows the body of an Azerbaijani soldier, lying on the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh ʹ a region this breakaway of Azerbaijan.

On social networks, another photograph was circulated, claiming to show a murdered attacker.

But, in the photograph, there is a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine, the site for the control of deninforms from Kosovo, Hibrid.info.

“Wagner comes to the aid of Serbs”

Social networks circulated information that masked attackers also had the backing of the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Asked by journalists whether there is a possibility that Wagner members have infiltrated northern Kosovo, Kosovo Police Deputy Director Fehmi Hoti said on September 24th that nothing has been proven.

This is not the first time that social networks provide information that the Russian mercenary army, Wagner, “is coming to the aid of Serbs”.

Such ones were distributed on Twitter -- the platform known today as X -- at the end of May of this year.

They followed the elections in northern Kosovo, which the Serb community boycotted, while then protesting the inauguration of Albanian mayors emerged from these elections.

How many attackers were killed?

In recent days, social networks wrote that the number of attackers killed in Banjska has increased to eight and ten.

The total number of terrorists killed is four”, said in a post.

According to recent official information from Kosovo police, three Serb attackers have been killed during the shootout.

Who are the hitters?

Three days after the attack on Banjska, there are no official confirmations of the identity of attackers killed by neither Kosovar nor Serbian officials.

But disinformation and speculation have circulated on social networks since the first day.

Thus, on the social network, the disinformation showed that Pavle Bihali, leader of the ultra-right Levijatan movement from Serbia, has been killed.

On September 24th, Bihal dismissed these claims from his account on the same social network.

During the same day, the disinformation emerged that among those killed is Radomir Pocuca, former journalist and participants in various conflicts on Russia's side.

Pocuca dismissed these claims in his profile in the Instagram, claiming that “ai has not died nor plans to die”.

Social networking users have shared other news from various unverified sources for murdered Serb attackers.

Also on the list was Vldomir Tollijq from Zvecan, who, according to unofficial sources, has resulted in his being in custody.

Radio Reporters Free Europe have failed to confirm how masked attackers of Serbian nationalism have been in Kosovo 24 September, nor their identity.

Dezinforms for Kosovo Police

In the days following the attack on the village of Banjska, Hibrid.info also identified dezinforms for Kosovo Police activities in areas north of the country.

Besides the fact that in some cases material has been used by previous shares of Kosovo police in the north, in some cases material has been used by other states, such as: The US, Bulgaria or Germany.

“

Kosovo is again Serbia”. With this title in English, a photograph of the supposed latest message appeared on social networks.

False content circulates in TikTok and Instagram from September 25th, with tens of thousands of views to date.

According to an analysis by Radio Free Europe, it's about a photomontage.

This image has been used for free online device “Break your news”.

With his help, anyone can create his latest news, adding the image and title he wants.

The photograph used to generate this false content was published several years ago.

It's about a Reuters photo from a military parade in Belgrade, and it was published in 2014.

Frequent demarcations for Kosovo- Serbia

Misinformations for relations between Kosovo and Serbia and the situation in northern Kosovo mostly populated by Serbs have occurred even before the Banjska attack.

Three-month and annual reports of the platform for verification of news, Hibrid.info, have testified that Kosovo's north is among the topics that promote mostly misinformation in the media in Kosovo.