US Training ISIS Only Miles from Bondsteel Base inside Europe
Kosovo's Daesh Camps Act as Creche for Young Terrorists
There are at least five Daesh military
training camps in Kosovo, located in remote areas near the
self-proclaimed republic’s border with Albania and Macedonia, a source
close to the intelligence services told Sputnik.
Bondsteel, America’s outpost for drugs, rendition and terrorism at Serbia’s door
A total of 314 Kosovo Albanians along with Daesh terrorists are now fighting government troops in Syria and Iraq, among them 38 women, according to the source.
As for the recruitment, it takes in two stages; the first is
conducted by non-governmental organizations that operate in Kosovo and
at numerous private schools, the source said.
Police officers look towards the
Macedonian mountain village of Gosince from a police check point set
near the northern Macedonian border with Kosovo. file photo
“In addition, each camp has several Daesh terrorists
who decide on sending the rookies to the war or preparing them for the
role of suicide bombers,” the source said, citing about 70 Kosovo
Albanian families who decided to join Daesh.
The source also warned of the possible spread of such camps
to Macedonia and in Bosnia, where about 800 jihadists arrived during the
wars in the 1990s. As far as Macedonia is concerned, the country is
just beginning to grapple with the problem, the source said, referring
to Macedonian villages which were earlier KLA centers and which have
already been turned into Daesh training camps.In 2013, the Western Balkans Security Issues news website warned of the territory of Kosovo and Albania being used for Daesh training camps, something that was recognized by Kosovo authorities only a year later.
Meanwhile, the source has told Sputnik that the training process dates back to 1999, when al-Qaeda terrorists were involved in training the KLA militants in Kosovo.
In a separate interview with Sputnik earlier this week, Fadil Lepaja,
director of the Center for Balkan Studies in Pristina, shared the view
that with Kosovo’s borders with Albania and Macedonia existing only
on paper, tracking Islamists’ training camps is almost impossible.He
noted that tackling Daesh supporters is a global problem, rather
than one limited to Kosovo and Albania. Even though NATO’s mission
in Kosovo (KFOR) and all relevant services keep a watchful eye on those
who have returned from the war in Syria, it is hard to foresee
everything, according to him.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after spending several years under UN administration. It is recognized by Washington and many EU member nations.