A 43-year-old police officer and two Albanian men were shot dead during a gun battle that took place in the early hours of Sunday, in the Vronteros highlands of Florina, near the Greek-Albanian border and the Small Prespa Lake.

According to the police, the deceased police officer and two others from the Prespa Border Guard Service were sent to the areas to investigate reports that Albanian criminals were stealing the nets of fishermen. The three officers located a shack in a remote area, which they believed belonged to the alleged thieves.

One of the officers, the 43-year-old Ilias Kostenis, entered the shack to investigate and found two men, who opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Kostenis tried to cover himself, but was mortally wounded. The other two officers responded to the attack, shooting dead the two men inside the shack.

The two officers contacted emergency services immediately, however it was too late for the 43-year-old, who succumbed to his serious wounds. The police believe that the two Albanian men were smugglers, while an investigation has been launched in the area find any weapon or narcotics caches.

The president of the nationwide federation of border guards Panagiotis Charelas spoke to tovima.gr and accused the leadership of the Greek Police of stripping border guards in order to support the services in Evros, leaving much of the country’s border guard services understaffed and unable to safely perform their duties.

The Minister of Public Nikos Dendias order issued a press released expressing his sorrow for the death of Kostenis in the line of duty and offered his condolences to his wife and daughter.