Belgrade: On Wednesday, Serbian forces detained three Kosovo police officers, but officials from Kosovo and Serbia gave different locations for the arrests and accused one another of illegally crossing the border.

Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, demanded the three officers' release. He claimed that they had been taken into custody 300 metres inside of Kosovan territory, close to the Serbian border.

Kurti claimed on his Facebook page that Serbian forces' entry into Kosovo's territory was an act of aggression intended to escalate and destabilise the situation.
The three were reportedly detained "deep inside" Serbian territory, according to Petar Petkovic, head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo.

Also Read: Russia calls the MH17 allegations made by Ukraine at the World Court "fiction"

At a press conference in Belgrade, he stated that the arrest occurred in the village of Gnjilica, which is close to the border, and that Serbia is open to an international investigation into the incident.

The detentions could exacerbate tensions in Kosovo's predominantly Serb northern region, which borders Serbia and has recently seen violent incidents.

Also Read: "Hindu-American Summit & 'Hindu Caucus' Plan" in US

Almost ten years after an uprising by the 90% ethnic Albanian majority against oppressive Serbian rule, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Although Serbian security forces were driven out of Kosovo in 1999 by a NATO bombing campaign, Belgrade still views the region as one of its southern provinces.

Last month, fighting broke out in four primarily Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, just outside of Serbia, injuring 52 Serbs and 30 peacekeepers.

Also Read: US prosecutors have charged an ex-morgue manager at Harvard with trafficking body parts

It started when Serbs organised protests against ethnic Albanian mayors who had taken over after a local election with a mere 3.5 percent turnout. Local Serbs abstained from voting in the election.