PRISTINA: Dozens of women and children, relatives of Kosovo militants fighting in Syria, were flown back home by plane on Saturday under heavy security.
“The planned operation for the return of some of our citizens from Syria has ended successfully,” Justice Minister Abelrad Tahiri said at the airport early on Saturday.
Details would be released later in the day, he said.
After hours at the airport, two buses with women and children were transported under police escort to army barracks just outside Pristina.
More than 300 Kosovo citizens, men, women and children, have traveled to Syria since 2012. Some 70 men who fought alongside extremist militant groups were killed.
Police said some 150 women and children, including around 60 children that were born in war zones, were captured as Daesh lost ground.
It remained unclear if all of them were returned on Friday. Neither the minister nor police gave any details if any fighters were also returned.
International and local security agencies have previously warned of the risk posed by returning fighters. In 2015, Kosovo adopted a law making fighting in foreign conflicts punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Kosovo’s population is nominally 90 percent Muslim, but largely secular in outlook.
There have been no Islamist attacks on its soil, although more than 100 men have been jailed or indicted on charges of fighting in Syria and Iraq. Some of them were found guilty of planning attacks in Kosovo.
The government said a form of radical Islam had been imported to Kosovo by non-governmental organizations from the Middle East after the end of its 1998-99 war of secession from Serbia.
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Kosovo returns families of militants from Syria
Kosovo returns families of militants from Syria
- More than 300 Kosovo citizens, men, women and children, have traveled to Syria since 2012
- Police said some 150 women and children, including around 60 children that were born in war zones, were captured
Explosion at US embassy in Oslo, no injuries: police
OSLO, Norway: Norwegian police reported on Sunday an explosion at the US embassy in the capital Oslo, but said there were no casualties.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
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