Top Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic died at a local hospital in Kosovo's Mitrovica city on Tuesday morning after an unknown gunman shot him five times outside his office.
According to Serbian media, he was assassinated in front of his party office in Kosova Mitrovica. Kosovo police said they were looking for the attackers, with heavy police presence visible near the party quarters. Radio Kosova reports that the security forces found the car used by the attackers, which had been set alight.
Leaders of Kosovo, Albania, and Serbia condemned the killing, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic calling for an emergency national security meeting. Vucic described it as an "act of terror" and said that he asked EU and UN officials in Kosovo to include Serbian security forces to investigate the killing.
The news also prompted a Serbian delegation in Brussels to walk out of a meeting with Pristina representatives on Tuesday. The procedural talks had been set to resume on Tuesday after a long break over political issues in Pristina.
The media has described the attack as a drive-by shooting. Images from the scene, however, suggest that the attackers' vehicle was pulled up close to the curb and stopped, or that the attackers stepped out of the vehicle before firing at Ivanovic at close range. His attackers used tried-and-true tactics that bear the hallmarks of a professional hit.
The Serbian government official in charge of Kosovo, Marko Djuric, described the murder as a "a criminal, terrorist act against the entire Serbian people.
