Northern Brigade
North Kosovo Paramilitary Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern Brigade (Serbian Cyrillic: Северна Бригада) is a Serbian militant group in North Kosovo.
| Northern Brigade | |
|---|---|
| Северна Бригада | |
Coat of arms of the Brigade | |
| Also known as | Brigada Sever |
| Leaders | Milan Radoičić (claimed by Kosovo) |
| Dates of operation | 2022–present |
| Active regions | Kosovo |
| Ideology | Far right[1] |
| Major actions | Banjska case |
| Allies |  SerbiaWagner group[2]  Civilna Zaštita |
| Opponents |  Kosovo KFOR |
| Battles and wars | North Kosovo crisis (2022–2026) |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | Kosovo[3] |
North Kosovo crisis
In June 2023, the government of Kosovo designated two ethnic Serb groups, Severna Brigada (Northern Brigade) and Civilna Zaštita (Civil Defense), as terrorist entities, alleging they were recruiting and training members to carry out attacks on Kosovan infrastructure.[3] This followed protests in the four northern municipalities in May due to the election of Albanian mayors in those municipalities after the Serb community had boycotted the elections.[3] More than 90 KFOR soldiers were injured in the violent clashes.[4][5]
It is unclear when the Severna Brigada was established or how it operates. In August 2022, graffiti signed by the group appeared on the streets of North Kosovo.[3][6]
Some of its members are believed to have taken part in the September 2023 attack in the village of Banjska where three militants and one Kosovo police officer was killed.[7]