Over 50 Bosnian fighters return from Syria - Serb daily

More than 50 warriors, who have spent the past months in the war zones, mostly in Syria, among them 20 injured, have returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina [B-H], while around 70 warriors left for jihad almost at the same time.

A source close to those checking the recruits from B-H for the world's battlefields told this to Glas Srpske. He said that the jihadists from B-H often stayed in the war zones from three to six months.

"Then they either take over the command, or return to B-H. Over the past nine months, a total of 52 warriors returned to B-H. At the same time, 70 new ones were sent out from B-H to replace them in Syria," the source said and added that not a single service in B-H had accurate information about those who left to fight in the war, or those who returned to the country.

He added that five returnees from Syria were currently staying in Hadzici, four each in Mostar and Gornja Maoca, three each in Travnik and Tesanj, and two each in Bugojno and Osve.

"They have become complete fanatics and now represent a considerable risk not only for B-H, but for the whole region. Some of them have become official "Al-Qaid'ah" [quotation marks as published] instructors, while others have been calling for religious fanaticism through their lectures, while emotionally referring to their "Syrian tears," and "smiling Syrian shehids," he said.

This source said that those who were now in Syria largely had experience from the war, and that many of them participated in the war in B-H, as members of the Al Mujahidin unit.

The B-H Prosecutor's Office said that they could not say whether they were checking or investigating warriors' departures from and returns to B-H.

The Vienna Presse daily reported that warriors who fought on the world's battlefields were returning to Austria, while around 40 of them, who fought in Syria, were already causing trouble for the Austrian authorities. Calling for an investigation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitutional System and Combating Terrorism, this paper reported that it was confirmed that 10 warriors indoctrinated by Al-Qaid'ah returned to the country and represented a considerable threat.

Around 500 Bosnian nationals are currently fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, 300 of whom in Syria only.

 

The Glas Srpske source said that there were probably Bosnian nationals among those returning to Austria from Syria.

"Vienna has a Muslim population of around 250,000. The most numerous are the Turks, who have integrated themselves into the Austrian society, and they are not radical, not going to wars. Then there are the Bosniaks, Syrians, and Egyptians, who like to go to the battlefields. Around 50 instructors have been training them in Vienna," he said.

Source: Glas Srpske, Banja Luka