site.btaFour Alleged Terrorists Arrested in North Macedonia

Four people have been arrested in North Macedonia on Sunday on suspicion of setting up a terrorist organization, the prosecution service in Skopje reported. The Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has ordered detention for 30 days.

The operation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior saw four suspects arrested in the regions of Struga and Gostivar after several months of pre-trial proceedings of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption. 

The main suspect is a 21-year-old from Gostivar. The prosecution alleged that earlier this year, he set up and actively coordinated a terrorist organization, which included the other suspects as well as unknown persons from North Macedonia and other countries.

A statement released by the prosecution service in Skopje reads: "The organization, based on the ideological matrix of the notorious Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, had the intention to carry out a terrorist act against civilians - "soft" targets and public facilities. In early 2024, the main suspect had set up several groups on Telegram where he expressed his full readiness and intention to carry out a terrorist attack and encouraged others to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe. In the groups, he shared [...] IS propaganda material while recruiting new members, making attempts to acquire firearms, sharing instructions for making improvised explosive devices, which would then be used to carry out terrorist attacks."

Minister of the Interior Panche Toshkovski reported that the operation was conducted in cooperation with international partners.