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Interview: No terrorist camps in BiH: security minister

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

There is no terrorist camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the authority is properly prepared to deal with potential challenges, including possible influx of refugees, said BiH Security Minister Dragan Mektic during an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

"It would be impossible for such camps to exist without knowledge of police authorities in this country," he said.

There were media reports the Islamic State (IS) supporters were buying land and establishing terrorist training camps in one village in the middle part of the Balkan country.

"There are groups and individuals who resort to extremism and violence (in Bosnia) but they are under our watchful eyes," he said.

He said investors have no reason to worry, and "we can guarantee they are safe here."

Mektic, meanwhile, admitted there were serious challenges facing the country, including terrorism, hate crimes, human trafficking and cyber crimes.

He continued that some BiH citizens went to fight in foreign battlefields, "a certain number of radical individuals incite terrorist activities and even recruit persons for terrorist attacks in the country and on foreign battlefields."

According to him, around 130 BiH citizens went to Syria to fight for the IS, with 43 of them killed while around 50 of them now back in the country. Some people also went to Ukraine to join the fight.

"Since last year the number of people who departed to foreign battlefields drastically decreased in Bosnia. The decrease is due to joint efforts by police and security agencies of BiH," said Mektic.

He noted BiH amended Criminal Code to make it a criminal offense for its citizens to go to foreign battlefields. People who committed such crimes could face five years in prison.

A total of 19 Bosnian citizens who have returned from the battlefields in Syria are currently prosecuted and the trials are pending, according to him.

BiH closely coordinated with the neighboring countries and the European Commission in the fight against terrorism, including a plan to establish a new database, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Regarding refugees crisis, Mektic said BiH is preparing for possible influx of refugees with an action plan although there were no indications of arrival of refugees in BiH.

He said Bosnia will provide assistance in case of arrival of refugees, "we will never employ repressive means against those people." BiH will cooperate with the EU in face of the refugee crisis, he added. Enditem