A shooting in Horgos (Horgoš), Serbia near the Hungarian border left three dead and one injured on Friday, 27 October.
According to the local Hungarian-language news outlet Pannon RTV, the shooting broke out around 3 a.m., between illegal migrants and an organized human smuggler group, in and around the abandoned agricultural buildings migrants have used as shelter. The conflict went on for hours, terrifying the locals, many of whom decided not to let their children go to school in the morning, still according to Pannon RTV.
Serbian law enforcement got to the scene by early morning, and rounded up 79 illegal immigrants. They have also advised the locals not to go into the vicinity of the Szelevény forest, where the incident took place and where migrants are known to congregate.
Six foreign nationals who are suspected to be involved in the shooting were apprehended by police. Four claimed to be Afghan, the other two claimed to be Turkish citizens.
hey are being charged with illegal possession of firearms and illegal production of ammunition—interestingly, no charges related to the actual killing have been filed yet, although that may come at a later date.
A local resident talked to the above-cited Pannon RTV about the incident, claiming she was on her way to the market early in the morning when gunfire could still be heard in the distance. This news, evidently, caused quite a bit of panic among the Horgos residents.
Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić of Serbia spoke about the issue as well, saying that an increased number of police officers will remain present in Horgos until every migrant involved in the shooting is identified and apprehended. He also warned that the search will extend to the nearby city of Szabadka (Subotica), so migrants cannot count on finding a hiding place there. Meanwhile, President Aleksandar Vučić proclaimed in a television interview on Friday that although he believes law enforcement is doing an adequate job of handling the situation, he is willing to employ his military to subdue the masses of illegal migrants at the Hungarian border if it becomes necessary.
Máte Kocsis, parliamentary group leader, MP for the governing Fidesz party in Hungary, talked to the Hungarian public radio about the incident on Sunday, 29 October. He revealed that Hungarian intelligence agencies are making a report on the increased violence and possible terror threat at the country’s southern border. While the report is confidential and only MPs serving on the National Security Committee will be briefed on its findings, MP Kocsis said that he will call for declassifying the report soon.
This is actually the second shooting that took place at the Serbian-Hungarian border in recent weeks.
In late September, Serbian-Hungarian joint border patrol forces came under gunfire on the Hungarian side of the border, near the town of Mórahalom. Thankfully, none of the four servicemen on patrol were hit. A group of migrants, who used automatic rifles, are suspected to be the perpetrator of that shooting as well.
This is all happening in the wake of increased terror threat in Europe which led countries such as Italy and Slovenia introducing extra border security measures.
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