A firefight between human traffickers on the Hungarian border prompted sweeping police action
Serbian gendarmerie has detained 829 migrants who were in the country illegally, as part of Friday’s crackdown prompted by an overnight firefight on the border with Hungary. At least one migrant was seriously injured in the shoot-out, which the interior ministry in Belgrade said involved rival groups of human traffickers.
A total of 689 people were detained near Horgos, a village of some 4,000 residents on the Serbia-Hungary border. Another 140 people were rounded up in Belgrade as part of the same operation, the interior ministry said.
“We will have zero tolerance to those who abuse our hospitality,” said Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic. “The lives and property of Serbian citizens shall be protected.”
Gasic, previously the head of Serbia’s counterintelligence, said his visit was a signal to the population of northern Serbia that the police…
