The American ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, has said that there is still no evidence as to who may have carried out the attack on the Ibër-Lepenci water channel in the north of Kosovo at the end of last month, but added that "he thinks that they will are found".
The Nov. 29 explosion at the water canal in Zubin Potok's Varraghe, which supplies water to several cities, was caused by about 20 kilograms of explosives, according to Kosovo authorities, who described it as the heaviest in the country's critical infrastructure since the 1998/99 war.
Asked in an interview on ATV's "Context" show on Dec. 10 what is known so far about the attack, Hovenier reiterated that it is still too early to tell.
"It's still very early, and as I said last week, for the United States to be able to attribute responsibility, we need to have a pretty clear line of evidence. We think there will be evidence, but we don't have it yet. So the investigations are ongoing; are being carried out by the Kosovar authorities", he said.
Hovenier, who is ending his term in Kosovo at the end of December, said that on the evening of the attack, the United States government offered Kosovo authorities the support of American law enforcement.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, made Serbia responsible for, as he said, the "terrorist attack" and said that it is copying the methods applied by Russia in its war in Ukraine.
Asked about the statements of Kosovo officials that Serbia had a hand in this attack, Hovenier repeated his previous position that the US Government "is not in a position to say who is responsible".
He indicated that American officials are working with their Kosovar counterparts in an effort to conduct "effective investigations."
"We believe that they should be reliable, fast, fair, transparent and of course, it is the view of the US government that we have already expressed very strongly that those responsible for this attack should be held accountable. At the moment, we are not able to say who is responsible," he added.
The Ibër-Lepenc Canal supplies water from Lake Ujman to the entire north of Kosovo, the regions of Mitrovica, Pristina and its surroundings, as well as the Kosovo Energy Corporation for cooling its thermal power plants.
While KEK's supply of water for cooling its thermal power plants was not affected, the explosion caused temporary water reductions in some parts of the country. REL (A2 Televizion)
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