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Police crackdown on IS supporters in Macedonia

Xinhua, August 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Macedonian police initiated a major operation in several towns Thursday targeted at arresting suspected supporters and participants in the paramilitary operations of the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East.

Police are conducting searches in in Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kumanovo and Struga trying to obtain evidence of IS cells. Several people have been arrested and taken in for hearing in the criminal court in Skopje.

Police made searches in couple of mosques as well. Most of the arrests are Macedonian citizens, but there are also citizens of other countries. They are suspected of recruiting participants for IS in Syria and Iraq, police informed.

"It is a criminal act in Macedonia to participate in either foreign armies or paramilitary formations abroad individually. The indictment will also include some people that we are aware that are in the battlefields in Syria and Iraq at the moment," spokesperson for Macedonian ministry of interior Ivo Kotevski told Xinhua Thursday.

Macedonia amended its criminal law recently, envisaging sanctions for Macedonian citizens participating in either the military operations or the paramilitary formations abroad. The changes were made after over 10 Macedonian citizens were killed while taking part in the IS activities in the Middle East. Endit