Eleven people suspected of plotting terror attacks and recruiting for the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group were detained in Albania and neighboring Kosovo, officials said Sunday.
Police in Albania said they detained four people on Saturday on suspicion of financing terrorism, recruiting gunmen for ISIL in Syria and spreading “terrorist propaganda”.
In Kosovo, seven people were also arrested Saturday for what police described as “extremism” and a threat to public safety.
Media reports said the detainees were alleged ISIL members and, working under the extremist group’s leader for Kosovars in Syria, Lavdrim Muhaxheri, planning to stage terror attacks in the Balkans.
The prosecutor’s office in Kosovo, in remarks reported by news portal Insajderi.com, said the seven had links to other extremists across the Balkans.
Albania and Kosovo have amended their criminal code to make participation in armed conflicts abroad punishable from 10-year to life imprisonment.
Source: Websites
