Two killed in shopping centre blast

A powerful blast ripped through Kosovo's capital today, killing two people and injuring 10 others.

The explosion happened around 2.30am (1.30am Irish time) in a shopping centre in the centre of Pristina. Police did not give any motive for the attack and did not identify any of the victims.

All the victims were taken to a local hospital, police spokesman Veton Elshani said.

Elshani said the most of the victims were injured from a concrete block falling after the blast. It was not immediately clear what was the target of the attack.

Last month police ransacked one of the shops and arrested several ethnic Albanians suspected of involvement in the shooting of a policeman.

The policeman was gunned down in a car park in Pristina, metres away from an area frequented by youths. The suspected assailant later turned himself in to police.

Kosovo is formally a part of Serbia, but has been under UN and Nato control since 1999 after the alliance bombed Serb forces and ended the troops' brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.