(ANSAmed) - SARAJEVO, SEPTEMBER 3 - Bosnian police arrested
16 Islamists on Wednesday in a sweep-up operation part of an
anti-terrorism inquiry focusing on the financing and recruitment
of young Bosnian nationals for fighting with jihadist groups in
Syria and Iraq, reports the Bosnian prosecutor's office.
Massive weapons troves were found as part 'Operation
Damascus', conducted by 200 officers in Sarajevo, Kiseljak,
Zenica, Maglaj, Srebrenika, Zvornik, Buzim and Teslic (with
particular attention on the Gornja Maoca and Bocinja villages,
known for their local Wahhabi communities).
Among those arrested was Husein Bilal Bosnic, a well-known leader of the Wahhabi community that had recently preached support for the jihadist Islamic State (IS), calling on youths to join the fight in the Middle East. Hamdo Fojnica was also arrested, the father of Emrah, suspected of being an accomplice of Mevlid Jasarevic, who was behind an attack on the US embassy in Sarajevo three years ago.
Emrah died in Syria in a suicide attack. Unofficial estimates put the number of those who have left Bosnia for the fight in Iraq and Syria at about 150. Most have joined the ranks of the Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra.
About twenty have lost their lives and the number of those leaving for the front has dropped significantly in recent months.(ANSAmed).
Among those arrested was Husein Bilal Bosnic, a well-known leader of the Wahhabi community that had recently preached support for the jihadist Islamic State (IS), calling on youths to join the fight in the Middle East. Hamdo Fojnica was also arrested, the father of Emrah, suspected of being an accomplice of Mevlid Jasarevic, who was behind an attack on the US embassy in Sarajevo three years ago.
Emrah died in Syria in a suicide attack. Unofficial estimates put the number of those who have left Bosnia for the fight in Iraq and Syria at about 150. Most have joined the ranks of the Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra.
About twenty have lost their lives and the number of those leaving for the front has dropped significantly in recent months.(ANSAmed).
