Sixteen people were detained by the Bosnian police Wednesday on charges of financing terrorist activities, recruiting other Balkan men to join the Islamic militants, or fighting in Syria and Iraq themselves, authorities said. It was the first such security sweep since April, when Bosnia introduced jail terms of up to 10 years for citizens who fight in conflicts abroad or recruit others to do so.
About 200 police officers from a number of Bosnian law enforcement agencies were involved in an operation targeting 17 locations across the Balkan country, the State Investigation and Protection Agency said in a statement.
"The suspects are connected to financing, organizing and recruiting Bosnian citizens to depart for Syria and Iraq, and taking part in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq, fighting on the side of radical terrorist groups and organizations," SIPA spokeswoman Kristina Jozic told a news conference.
During the search of locations where suspects were arrested, the police found and confiscated a large amount of weapons and ammunition, computer equipment, telephone cards and propaganda materials, Jozic said, adding that 15 other people who were found at the locations of the raise are also being investigated.
The arrested were suspected of "recruiting (Bosnian) nationals for Syria and Iraq and funding and organizing their travel" to the two countries, police said. They were also suspected of "participating in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq where they fought alongside radical terrorist groups and organizations," including Islamic State, the Associated Press reported.
The move was specifically aimed at discouraging young Bosnians from going to fight in Syria, Reuters reported. Experts estimate that several hundred people have left Bosnia, where Muslims make up 45 percent of the population, to head for Syria, some of whom have reportedly crossed into Iraq this year to fight for ISIS.
Although most Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, practice a moderate form of Islam, recent years have witnessed many young Muslims from the Balkans, including Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia, become radicalized to fight for global Islamic causes.
"Last month, Kosovo police arrested an imam on suspicion of recruiting Kosovars to fight in Iraq and Syria after 40 men had been rounded up and ordered to remain in detention," according to Reuters.
