Bosnia introduced jail terms of up to 10 years on Tuesday for any citizen who fights in or recruits for conflicts abroad, seeking to curb departure of young Bosnians to Syria who could return to pose a threat at home.
Analysts say some young Bosnians have become radicalized to fight for global causes under the influence of foreign fighters or Mujahideen who came to help Bosnian Muslims fight Bosnian Serbs and Croats during the Bosnian 1992-95 war.
“This trend is the direct legacy of Mujahideen,” said Vlado Azinovic, lecturer at the Sarajevo Faculty of Political Sciences and expert on terrorism.
Experts say that around 150 Bosnians were confirmed to have left for Syria over the past year, 15 of whom had been reported killed. Some took their wives and children with them, hoping to start a new life under strict Islamic rules.
Most Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, practice a moderate form of Islam. But some youths, particularly from rural areas, have in recent years adhered to the puritanical Sunni Muslim Wahhabi sect.
Governments estimate that several thousand Europeans have gone to Syria since the war against President Bashar al-Assad started three years ago. Britain and France have announced measures to counter the phenomenon which has also raised concern in other European Union countries.
Militant islamist groups have grown greatly in power and influence in the Syrian opposition in the last year, often clashing with other, non-sectarian groupings.
Bosnia’s newly-approved penal law is designed to help prevent or decrease the number of young Bosnians going to fight in Syria.
Source: Reuters