The explosion damaged water and electricity supplies in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo — A powerful explosion damaged a water pipeline and temporarily cut off water and electricity supplies to Kosovo’s cities, the prime minister said Saturday, blaming groups backed by Serbia.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Friday’s blast in Vraje, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the capital Pristina, disrupted water supplies to some towns and major power plants. It followed two other explosions in the previous days at a police station and local government buildings in the same area in the north of the country, which is mostly populated by the ethnic Serb minority.

Kurti blamed “official Belgrade and its criminal structures led by Milan Radojic, supported by Serbian institutions and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.”

Radojicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia’s ruling populist party and Vucic, was among 45 people charged in Kosovo in connection with a shootout last year in which a Kosovo policeman was killed after gunmen invaded Serb fighters

Only three Serbs have been arrested, others are at large, including Radojicic, whom Pristina says is protected by Belgrade.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric condemned Friday’s blast, but also criticized Kurti’s “ethno-nationalist regime” for being quick to “point the finger at Belgrade without evidence.”

“We believe that such premature accusations are deliberate sabotage,” Djuric said. “These baseless accusations undermine efforts at constructive dialogue and only serve to escalate tensions in an already delicate situation.”

The European Union and the United States strongly condemned the explosion and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

“These acts of violence have no place in a democratic society, and those responsible for these criminal attacks on the legitimate authorities of the Republic of Kosovo must be held accountable,” the US Embassy in Pristina said.

Relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense, despite efforts by the international community to normalize them.

Kosovo was a Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended the war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, killing about 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, and ousting Serbian forces. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence, which Belgrade does not recognize.

Brussels and Washington are urging both sides to implement the agreements reached by Vucic and Kurti in February and March of last year. These include Kosovo’s commitment to create an Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority. Serbia is also expected to recognize de facto Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers a province.

The NATO-led international peacekeeping force known as KFOR has increased its presence in Kosovo since last year’s tensions.

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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania. Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.