Macedonia Detains Seven Suspected Jihadists

The detained suspects, all Macedonian nationals aged between 23 and 47, are suspected of active participation in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq as foreign terrorist fighters, the interior ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.

The ministry said that the raid was a continuation of Operation Cell, a 2015-16 police crackdown on ISIS fighters who had returned to Macedonia, some of whom are now serving jail sentences.

"The operation confirms one more time that Macedonian institutions have the capacity and credibility to deal with the current security challenges and are a serious partner in the global anti-terrorism coalition," the ministry said.

In 2014, Macedonia passed amendments to the criminal law to bring in jail sentences for Macedonians fighting with paramilitary organisations abroad.

The law now envisages a minimum jail of five years if a person is caught participating in a foreign paramilitary or para-police group. The same minimum sentence is envisaged for those found guilty of indirectly supporting such actions.

Ethnic Macedonians, who make up the majority in the country, are predominantly Orthodox Christians, and jihadist recruiters have in the past mainly targeted the sizeable Albanian population, which is mainly Muslim.

Although most security experts say that the heyday for recruiting jihadist fighters from Macedonia and the rest of the Balkans has passed, police estimates show that at least 30 people from Macedonia have so far died in the conflicts in the Middle East and that more than 70 have returned home.

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