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{{short description|Muslim volunteers of 1992–1995 Bosnian War}} | |||
{{redirect-several|Mujahid|Mujahideen}} | |||
{{infobox military unit | |||
| unit_name = Bosnian mujahideen | |||
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| dates = 1992–95 | |||
| country = {{flag|Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina}} | |||
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| branch = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg}} ] | |||
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| size = estimates vary from 500 to 5,000. Most estimates are in the 1,000-2,000 range {{small|(])}} | |||
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* ]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schrader |first1=Charles R. |title=The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994 |date=2003 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9781585442614 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_ceXJTw71MC&pg=PA87}}</ref> | |||
* ]{{cn|date=December 2024}} | |||
* ]{{cn|date=December 2024}} | |||
* ]{{cn|date=December 2024}} | |||
* ]{{cn|date=December 2024}} | |||
* ]{{cn|date=December 2024}} | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rovcanin |first1=Haris |title=Punishment Urged for Wartime Bosnian Army Commander |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2022/03/30/punishment-urged-for-wartime-bosnian-army-commander/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=30 March 2022 |quote=..members of the El Mujahideen unit killed 55 captured Bosnian Serb Army soldiers in the Vozuca and Zavidovici areas from July to September 1995 and cut some of their heads off..}}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |title=Rasim Delić Case Information Sheet |url=https://www.haguejusticeportal.net/Docs/Fact%20Sheets/Delic_Case%20Info%20Sheet.pdf |website=haguejusticeportal.net |publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia}}</ref> | |||
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| disbanded = 1995 | |||
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}} | |||
'''Bosnian mujahideen''' ({{langx|bs|Bosanski mudžahedini}}), also called '''''El Mudžahid''''' ({{langx|ar|مجاهد}}, ''mujāhid''), were foreign ] volunteers who fought on the ] side during the 1992–95 ]. They first arrived in central ] in the latter half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists in fights against ] and ] forces. Initially they mainly came from ] countries, later from other Muslim-majority countries.<ref name="bos">{{Cite news|title=Bosnia: The cradle of modern jihadism?|work=BBC News|date=2 July 2015|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33345618|access-date=16 November 2021|language=en}}</ref> Estimates of their numbers vary from 500 to 5,000 with most estimates in the 1,000–2,000 range.{{sfn|Donnelly|Sanderson|Fellman|2017|p=8}} | |||
== Bosnian War == | |||
Bosnian ]<ref>Also spelt '''Mujahedin''' in a minority of articles</ref> were predominantly foreign ] volunteers who fought on the side of the Bosnian government during the 1992-1995 ].<ref name=ICTY-Antonetti>, Summary of the Judgmenet for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, ] 2006. See section "VI. The Mujahedin"</ref><ref>Staff. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service, ], 2000,</ref> The number of volunteers is estimated to have been between 3,000 and 7,000<ref>,, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001</ref><ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref><ref>, Bosnia-Herzegovina: New Book Investigates Presence Of Al-Qaeda, June 1, 2007</ref><ref>, Al-Qaeda's Recruitment Operations in the Balkans by Ines Alic, Volume 4, Issue 12 (June 15, 2006)</ref> with the majority coming from countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. In addition, local ] (Bosnian Muslims) fought alongside the foreign mujahideen. Initially, the mujahideen units operated independently of the ] (ARBiH). However, as the war progressed they became increasingly integrated into the regular Bosnian army and its command structure.<ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref> In addition to the Mujahideen volunteers, there were also several hundred Iranian ] supporting the Bosnian government during the war. <ref>, Dayton Implementation: The Train and Equip Program, September 1997 | Special Report No. 25</ref><ref>, What's Iran Doing In Bosnia, Anyway?, by Elaine Sciolino, 10 December 1995</ref><ref></ref> Many of the Bosnian Mujahideen were supported financially from Saudi Arabia, including persons and organizations later connected with ]<ref>., Al Qaeda Recruited U.S. Servicemen: Testimony Links Plot To Saudi Gov't, 2004</ref><ref>, By, Evan F. Kohlmann (page 2), as published on the web site of the Swedish National Defence College</ref> | |||
{{see|Bosnian War|Foreign support in the Bosnian War}} | |||
In the ] in 1991, ] and ] declared independence. War broke out in Croatia between the Croatian Army and the breakaway ]. Meanwhile, the ]s voted for independence. ] declared an ], independent of Bosnia, and Bosnian Croats took similar steps. The war broke out in April 1992.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Chifton |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Ilyn |editor2-first=Mikhail V. |editor3-last=Mey |editor3-first=Jacob L. |title=Political Discourse in Transition in Europe 1989 1991 |date=1998 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=9789027282620 |page=252 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUtCAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA252}}</ref> | |||
== Role during the Bosnian War 1992-1995 == | |||
Muslim foreign fighters came to support the Bosnian Muslims and an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were also Islamist organizations and Muslim non-profit organizations and charitable trusts that supported the Bosnian Muslims. | |||
Foreign mujahideen arrived in central Bosnia in the second half of ] with the aim of helping their Bosnian ] (]) coreligionists against the ] and ] forces. Mostly they came from ], the ] and the ]. On 13 August 1993, the Bosnian government officially mobilized the ''Kateebat al-Mujahideen'' ("Battalion of the Holy Warriors") or ''El Mudžahid'', on the personal orders of Bosnian president ], to whom the unit was directly responsible.<ref>{{cite book |title=Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network |last=Kohlmann |first=Evan |authorlink=Evan Kohlmann |coauthors= |year=2004 |publisher=Berg Publishers |location= |isbn=1859738079 |pages=91, 92}}</ref> Initially, the foreign Mujahideen gave food and other basic necessities to the local Muslim population, deprived many necessities by the Bosnian Serb forces. Once hostilities broke out between the Bosnian government (ABiH) and the Bosnian Croat forces (HVO), the Mujahideen also participated in battles against the HVO alongside ABiH units.<ref>, Summary of the Judgmenet for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
Volunteer mujahideen arrived from all around the world,<ref name=Fisk>{{cite news|last=Fisk|first=Robert|work=The Independent|date=7 September 2014|title=After the atrocities committed against Muslims in Bosnia, it is no wonder today's jihadis have set out on the path to war in Syria|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/after-the-atrocities-committed-against-muslims-in-bosnia-it-is-no-wonder-today-s-jihadis-have-set-9717384.html}}</ref> including ],{{sfn|Farmer|2010|p=126}} ],{{sfn|Berger|2011|p=55}} ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ],<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45182211|jstor = 45182211|title = Afghanistan, Kashmir and Bosnia: Mutual Linkages and Common Direction|last1 = Majeed|first1 = Tariq|journal = Strategic Studies|year = 1995|volume = 18|issue = 2-3|pages = 102–117}}</ref> ] (especially around ] and ]), ], ], ], ],<ref>{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Shireen T.|title=God on Our Side: Religion in International Affairs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFwdDQAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-7259-0|page=164}}</ref> the ], the ], ]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vidino |first=Lorenzo |last2=Pantucci |first2=Raffaello |last3=Kohlmann |first3=Evan |date=2010 |title=Bringing Global Jihad to theHorn of Africa: al Shabaab, Western Fighters, and the Sacralization of the Somali Conflict |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48598807 |journal=African Security |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=216–238 |issn=1939-2206}}</ref> and ].{{sfn|Lebl|2014|p=8}} The Bosnian mujahideen were primarily from Iran, Afghanistan and numerous Arab countries.{{sfn|Innes|2006|p=157}} | |||
The foreign mujahideen actively recruited young local men, offering them military training, uniforms and weapons. As a result, local Bosniaks joined the foreign mujahideen and in the process became local "Bosnian Mujahideen".<ref>, Summary of the Judgmenet for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> They imitated the foreigners in both the way they dressed and behaved, to such an extent that it was sometimes, according to the ICTY documentation in subsequent war crimes trials, "difficult to distinguish between the two groups. For that reason, the ICTY has used the term "Mujahideen" (which they spell Mujahedin) to designate foreigners from ] countries, but also local Muslims (ie ]) who joined the Mujahideen units.<ref name=ICTY-Antonetti/> | |||
Foreign mujahideen arrived in central Bosnia in the second half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists to defend themselves from the Serb and Croat forces. Some originally went as humanitarian workers,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/humanitarian-worker-turned-mujahideen.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=10738 |title=Humanitarian worker turned Mujahideen |access-date=2015-07-08 |archive-date=2019-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204123915/http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/humanitarian-worker-turned-mujahideen.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=10738 |url-status=dead }}</ref> while some of them were considered criminals in their home countries for illegally travelling to Bosnia and becoming soldiers. On 13 August 1993, the Bosnian government officially organized foreign volunteers into the detachment known as ''El Mudžahid'' in order to impose control and order. Initially, the foreign mujahideen gave food and other basic necessities to the local Muslim population, who were deprived of such by the Serb forces. Once hostilities broke out between the Bosnian government and the Croat forces (HVO), the mujahideen also participated in battles against the HVO alongside ARBiH units.<ref name="icty judgement">{{cite web|url=http://secnet069.un.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/cis/en/cis_hadzihasanovic_kubura_en.pdf |title=ICTY: Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadžihasanović and Amir Kubura |access-date=2010-02-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728142657/http://secnet069.un.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/cis/en/cis_hadzihasanovic_kubura_en.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}} | |||
The first Bosnian mujahideen training camp was located in ] next to the village of ], in the ] valley, in ] municipality. The mujahideen group established there included mujahideen from Arab countries as well as Bosniaks. Amongst the local Bosniaks were former members of the ] and soldiers who were ] members of 3rd Corps units, namely of the 7th and 306th Brigades. The Mujahideen from Poljanice camp were also established in the towns of ] and Travnik and, from the second half of ] onwards, in the village of ], also located in the Bila valley.<ref>, Summary of the Judgmenet for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref><ref>, Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders, Adrian Morgan, 13 November 2006</ref> | |||
The foreign mujahideen sometimes recruited local young men into the foreign mujahideen units.<ref name="icty judgement"/>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}} Accordingly, the ] (ICTY) noted that it was sometimes "difficult to distinguish between the two groups". For that reason, the ICTY has used the term "Mujahideen" (which they spell ''Mujahedin'') for both fighters from ] countries, and also local Muslims who joined the mujahideen units.<ref name=ICTY-Antonetti>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/icty/hadzihas/trialc/judgement/060315/hadz-sum060315.htm |title=ICTY Summary of the Judgment for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura: Section VI. The Mujahedin |date=15 March 2006}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}} | |||
According to the ICTYs indictment of Rasim Delic, Commander of Main Staff of the Bosnian army (ABiH), after the formation of the 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade of the ABiH 3rd Corps on 19 November 1992 the El Mujahid were subordinated within its structure. The Bosnian Mujahideen were involved in combat activities of units of the ABiH 3rd Corps, including the 7th Muslim Mountain Brigade, and frequently spearheaded ABiH 3rd Corps combat operations. On 13 August 1993 Rasim Delic then ordered the establishment within the ABiH 3rd Corps area of responsibility of the "EL Mujahed" unit, effective no later than 31 August 1993. The El Mujahed unit remained part of the ABiH 3rd Corps until its disbandment on 12 December 1995. | |||
The first mujahideen training camp was located in Poljanice next to the village of ], in the ] valley, ] municipality. The mujahideen group established there included mujahideen from Arab countries as well as some Bosniaks. The mujahideen from Poljanice camp were also established in the towns of ] and Travnik and, from the second half of 1993 onwards, in the village of ], also located in the Bila valley.<ref name="icty judgement"/><ref>{{cite web |author=Adrian Morgan |url=http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=6540 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123230849/http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=6540 |date=13 November 2006 |archive-date=2006-11-23 |title=Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders |website=Spero News}}</ref> | |||
The military effectiveness of the Bosnian mujahideen is disputed. However, former US Balkans peace negotiator ] said in an interview that "I think the Muslims wouldn't have survived without this" help. At the time a U.N. arms embargo diminished the Bosnian government's fighting capabilities. Holbrooke called the arrival of the moujahedeen "a pact with the devil" from which Bosnia still is recovering.<ref>,, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001</ref> | |||
The military effectiveness of the mujahideen is disputed. However, former U.S. Balkans peace negotiator ] said in an interview that he thought "the Muslims wouldn't have survived without this" help, as at the time a U.N. arms embargo diminished the Bosnian government's fighting capabilities. In 2001, Holbrooke called the arrival of the mujahideen "a pact with the devil" from which Bosnia still is recovering.<ref name="LA Times">, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001</ref> On the other hand, according to general ], the highest ranking ethnic Croat in the Bosnian Army, the key role in foreign volunteers arrival was played by Tuđman and Croatian ] with the aim to justify the involvement of Croatia in the Bosnian War and the crimes committed by Croat forces. Although the Bosnian President ] regarded them as symbolically valuable as a sign of the Muslim world's support for Bosnia, they appear to have made little military difference and became a major political liability.<ref name="Islam-1070747643">{{cite web|url=http://www.islam.co.ba/razmisljanja/index.php?subaction=ostalo&id=1070747643 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208130905/http://www.islam.co.ba/razmisljanja/index.php?subaction=ostalo&id=1070747643 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-12-08 |title=Predrag Matvejević analysis }}</ref> | |||
===Bosnian mujahideen units=== | |||
== Size == | |||
At the end of the war there were a number of Bosnian mujahideen units in the Bosnian government army: | |||
Estimates of the mujahideen forces size vary. In 2003, Charles R. Shrader reported that ] general ] had estimated 3,000 to 4,000, but the actual figure would probably be closer to 2,000, based on testimonies given in the ] trial against ] and {{ill|Mario Čerkez|bs}}.{{sfn|Shrader|2003|p=179}} In 2004, ] stated that "the deployment of Arab fighters in Bosnia who were generally loyal to the jihadi leadership in Afghanistan exploded in the mid-1990s into numbers sometimes estimated even to exceed 5,000".{{sfn|Kohlmann|2004|p=xii}} ] stated that "up to 6,000 “Arab Afghan” volunteers arrived in the country and enlisted in combat."{{sfn|Schwartz|2004}} In 2011, Thomas Hegghammer estimated the number of foreign Muslim fighters in Bosnia to be 1,000–2,000.{{sfn|Hegghammer|2011|p=}} In 2013, the ] estimated that "between 2,000 and 5,000 fought in BiH."{{sfn|ICG|2013|p=14}} In 2017, a ] report stated that "figures range from 500–5,000 with a preponderance of estimates in the 1,000–2,000 range", citing Hegghammer for the later estimate.{{sfn|Donnelly|Sanderson|Fellman|2017|p=8}} | |||
==Relationship to the Bosnian Army== | |||
*''']''' (the "''el Mudzahidin''"): this was the main Bosnian mujahideen unit with its main headquarters in ], central Bosnia. The 3rd Mujahedin Corps was composed of three Brigades, each of about 1,500 troops. These brigades were: the ] in ], the ] in ] (now operating under the ]-based 2nd Corps), the ] initially deployed in the front lines in the "bulge" (Botsilo region) and then in ] and the ], was established on 20 December, 1995. The 807th Muslim Liberation Brigade is an integral component of the ]-based 81st Division.<ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref> | |||
] found that there was one ]-sized unit called El Mudžahid (El Mujahid). It was established on 13 August 1993, by the Bosnian Army, which decided to form a unit of foreign fighters in order to impose control over them as the number of the foreign volunteers started to increase.<ref name="un.org">{{cite web |title=Appeals Judgement Summary for the Case of Hadžihasanović and Kubura |url=http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2008/pr1240e-summary.htm |website=ICTY.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805095409/http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2008/pr1240e-summary.htm |archive-date=5 August 2009}}</ref> The El Mudžahid unit was initially attached to and supplied by the regular ] (ARBiH), even though they often operated independently as a special unit.{{sfn|Curtis|2010|p=207}} | |||
According to the ICTY indictment of ], Commander of Main Staff of the Bosnian army (ARBiH), after the formation of the ] on 19 November 1992, the El Mudžahid were subordinated within its structure. According to a UN communiqué of 1995, the El Mudžahid battalion was "directly dependent on Bosnian staff for supplies" and for "directions" during combat with the Serb forces.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309074206/http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_07_16/feature.html |date=2008-03-09 }}, The Bosnian Connection, by Brendan O’Neill, 16 July 2007</ref> The issue has formed part of two ICTY war crimes trials against two former senior officials in the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of superior criminal responsibility. In its Trial Chamber judgement in the case of ICTY v. ], commander of the ] (who was later made part of the joint command of the ARBiH and was the Chief of the Supreme Command Staff), and ], commander of the 7th Muslim Brigade of the 3rd Corps of the ARBiH, the Trial Chamber found that: | |||
*''']''' (the "''al Ansar''"): this was a separate force in the Zenica-Travnik area. The Ansar was 300 to 600 troops strong. The main headquarters was in the Vatrostalno Factory building in Podbrijezje (near Zenica). In addition, there was a camp called the "Martyrs' Detachment", which, since the Spring of 1995, had absorbed a few hundred new volunteers arriving from ], ] and ].<ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref> | |||
<blockquote>the foreign Mujahedin established at Poljanice camp were not officially part of the 3rd Corps or the 7th Brigade of the ARBiH. Accordingly, the Prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the foreign Mujahedin officially joined the ARBiH and that they were ''de iure'' subordinated to the Accused Enver Hadžihasanović and ].<ref name="icty judgement"/></blockquote> | |||
*''']''' (the "''Kata 'eb al-Manikin''"): this force included mainly Arabs. They were serving under the command of military officers from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The trainers and leadership were from Iran. Each Battalion was 300 to 600 troops strong. The first operational battalion was based in the ] area (north west Bosnia). Another battalion served as a special forces unit for the 2nd Corps in the ] area.<ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref> | |||
It also found that: | |||
*''']''': named after the ] which served under the ] flag in ]. The contemporary Handzar Division was a 2,500 to 3,000 elite force deployed in ] and a 6,000 to 7,500 strong back-up force at a major training base around ], but is moved around to augment major fighting fronts. The majority of the troops of the Handzar Division come from the region's non-Bosnian Muslim minorities, primarily Albanians, and were led by veteran Pakistani and Afghan experts.<ref> by Yossef Bodansky, 1996. Part 1, Chapter 3</ref> | |||
<blockquote>there are significant indicia of a subordinate relationship between the Mujahedin and the Accused ''prior'' to August 13, 1993. Testimony heard by the Trial Chamber and, in the main, documents tendered into evidence demonstrate that the ARBiH maintained a close relationship with the foreign Mujahedin as soon as these arrived in central Bosnia in 1992. Joint combat operations are one illustration of that. In Karaula and Visoko in 1992, at Mount Zmajevac around mid-April 1993 and in the Bila valley in June 1993, the Mujahedin fought alongside ARBiH units against Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat forces."<ref name="icty judgement"/></blockquote> | |||
===Relationship to the Bosnian government army (ABiH) === | |||
However, the ICTY Appeals Chamber in April 2008 concluded that the relationship between the 3rd Corps of the Bosnian Army headed by Hadžihasanović and the El Mudžahid detachment was not one of subordination but was instead close to overt hostility since the only way to control the detachment was to attack them as if they were a distinct enemy force.<ref name="un.org" /> | |||
The extent to which the Bosnian mujahideen were controlled by the Bosnian government is contentious. According to a UN communiqué of 1995, the El Mujahid battalion was "directly dependent on BiH staff for supplies" and for "directions" during combat with the Bosnian Serbs.<ref>, The Bosnian Connection, by Brendan O’Neill, 16 July 2007</ref> The issue has formed part of two ] ] trials. In its judgement in the case of ICTY v. ] (commander of the 3rd Corps of the army of the Sarajevo-based government (ABiH), he was later made part of the joint command of the ABiH and was the Chief of the Supreme Command Staff) and ] (commander of the ] of the 3rd Corps of the ABiH) the ICTY found that <blockquote>"there are significant indicia of a subordinate relationship between the Mujahedin and the Accused ''prior'' to 13 August 1993. Testimony heard by the Trial Chamber and, in the main, documents tendered into evidence demonstrate that the ABiH maintained a close relationship with the foreign Mujahedin as soon as these arrived in central Bosnia in 1992. Joint combat operations are one illustration of that. In Karaula and Visoko in 1992, at Mount Zmajevac around mid-April 1993 and in the Bila valley in June 1993, the Mujahedin fought alongside AbiH units against Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat forces." <ref>, Summary of the Judgmenet for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref></blockquote> | |||
== After the war == | |||
After the official formation of the ''El Mujahid'' battalion on 13 August 1993 it became part of the Bosnian Army, though with its own commanders. According to testimony and evidence presented at the ] trial of Bosnian government General ], which began in July 2007, the Bosnian Mujahideen operated under the control of the Bosnian army (ABiH) though with their own commanders. <ref>, Muslim fighter begins testimony in Bosnia trial, 7 September 2007</ref> <ref>, Tape suggests Bosnian general lied about mujahideen, 14 September 2007</ref> | |||
In 1995, veterans of the Bosnian mujahideen established the ], regarded the most dangerous of the Islamist groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Deliso|2007|p=18}} | |||
=== |
===Citizenship controversy=== | ||
The foreign mujahideen were required to leave the Balkans under the terms of the 1995 ], but many stayed. Although the U.S. State Department report suggested that the number could be higher, an unnamed ] official said allied military intelligence estimated that no more than 200 foreign-born militants actually lived in Bosnia in 2001, of whom around 30 represented a hard-core group with direct or indirect links to terrorism.<ref name="LA Times"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/840241.stm|title=BBC News - EUROPE - Mujahideen fight Bosnia evictions|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> | |||
In September 2007, 50 of these individuals had their citizenship status revoked. Since then 100 more individuals have been prevented from claiming citizenship rights. 250 more were under investigation, while the body which is charged with reconsidering the citizenship status of the foreign volunteers in the Bosnian War, including Christian fighters from ] and ], states that 1,500 cases will eventually be examined. | |||
The judgements of ] and ] concerned a number of war crimes involving the Bosnian mujahideen. Those included in the judgement are recounted below: | |||
::*on 26 January 1993, following an attack on the village of Miletici in Travnik Municipality, four Bosnian Croat men were captured, had their hands tied behind their backs and subsequently had their throats slit and their blood collected in a pan.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*on 8 June 1993, 23 Croatian men and one young woman were executed in Bikoci while they were being held prisoner. The Trial Chamber finds that the perpetrators of the massacre were foreign and local Mujahedin.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*from 26 January 1993 to 20 August 1993 and on 20 September 1993 civilian prisoner were held at the Music School in the town of Zenica, were victims of cruel treatment and physical and psychological abuse. During that period more than one hundred detainees were imprisoned at the Music School. 10 detainees described the violence they were subjected to. One witness told how during the night, detainees were taken out one by one from their cells upstairs at the Music School and that, with the lights out, they had to go through a line of soldiers who beat them with wooden shovel handles. The same witness stated that one day a military policeman ordered a father to beat his mentally handicapped son. When the father refused to do so, another detainee was forced to carry out the order.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*on 18 May 1993, 16 Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serbs civilians were taken to the Motel Sretno where they were beaten several times until the next morning, 19 May 1993, when they were set free. In the first phase of the interrogation, they were kicked with boots and beaten with rifle butts and fists. In the second phase, the detainees were forced to hit each other. In the third phase, they were forced to go through a row of soldiers who beat them with rifle butts. A witness told how he did not get up and how he lost consciousness after being beaten a dozen times by a truncheon on the head. In the fourth and last phase, the detainees were made to place their heads between the bars of their cells and were then beaten by pieces of wood. Evidence has indicated that after such brutalities some of the victims suffered several broken ribs, dislocated kidneys, and damaged spinal columns.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*In late July or early August 1993, several detainees, including Mario Zrno, a prisoner of war, were taken outside the Bugojno Convent and subjected to severe beatings. Mario Zrno did not survive.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*On the night of 5 August 1993, five or six prisoners, including Mladen Havranek, a prisoner of war, were severely beaten on the upper floor of the Slavonija Furniture Salon. Several witnesses stated that from the cell in the basement they heard Mladen Havranek screaming and begging for the beatings to cease. After repeated beatings, Mladen Havranek was unable to walk and was dragged down the stairs to the cell in the basement. Malden Havranek died as a result of his injuries that same night.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*On 21 October 1993, Dragan Popovic, a Bosnian Serb civilian, was executed by members of the Bosnian Mujahideen detachment. In its judgement the ICTY notes that this murder was "particularly heinous". Dragan Popovic was taken with three other prisoners to a meadow where a pit had been dug. About 50 to 100 soldiers from the El Mujahed detachment stood around the pit shouting. Dragan Popovic was pushed to the edge of the pit and fell on his side after being tripped. One soldier then tried unsuccessfully to behead him with a hatchet, so another soldier had to finish the execution. The other prisoners were then forced to kiss the head of the deceased while the soldiers shouted in ritual celebration.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
::*the Monastery of Guča Gora and the Church of St. John the Baptist in Travnik were damaged in June 1993 by Bosnian Mujahideen. In the Monastery of Guča Gora - which was both a sacred and historical site for the Croatian Catholic community - steles and the organ were destroyed, and the frescoes and walls were partially covered with inscriptions in Arabic. Similar destruction and damage was recorded at the church in Travnik: paintings, organs and windows were destroyed or vandalised and the statues of saints were decapitated.<ref>, Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, 15 March 2006</ref> | |||
The ICTY indictment of ], the Bosnian mujahideen were involved in numerous war crimes during the summer of 1995. These are listed below: | |||
::*21 July 1995: the El Mujahed unit decapitated the captured Bosnian Serb soldiers Momir Mitrovic and Predrag Knezevic.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
::*24 July 1995: while held at the Kamenica prison camp, the Bosnian Serb soldier Gojko Vujicic was behaded and the other prisoners were forced to kiss the severed head after which the head was placed on a hook on the wall in the room in which the prisoners were held.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
::*the Bosnian Serb prisoners held at the Kamenica Camp, run by the El Mujahed, were beaten and tortured, including with electrical shocks.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
::*60 Bosnian Serb males captured by the El Mujahed and held at the Kamenica Camp are missing and presumed to have been killed by the El Mujahed.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
::*an elderly Bosnian Serb man, held in the Kamenica Camp was beaten and forced to drink water mixed with petrol. He later died in the camp as a result of the mistreatment.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
::*three civilian female prisoners held at the Kamenica camp were beaten, kicked, hit with metal sticks and rifle butts, and subject to sexual assaults, including rape.<ref> against Rasim Delic</ref> | |||
===War crimes trials=== | |||
== After the war == | |||
{{main|Enver Hadžihasanović|Amir Kubura|Rasim Delić}} | |||
It was alleged that Bosnian mujahideen participated in ], including the killing, torture and beheading of Serbian and Croat civilians and soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |title='Brutal crimes' of Bosnia Muslims |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3254890.stm |work=BBC News |date=December 2, 2003}}</ref>{{sfn|Berger|2011|p=93}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Swicord |first1=Jeff |title=Seeds of Jihad Planted in the Balkans |url=https://www.voanews.com/europe/seeds-jihad-planted-balkans |publisher=Voice of America |date=November 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Erjavec |first1=Dragana |title=Bosnia Mujahideen Prisoner 'Forced to Kiss Severed Head' |url=https://www.justice-report.com/en/articles/bosnia-mujahideen-prisoner-forced-to-kiss-severed-head |website=JusticeReport |publisher=BIRN |date=June 8, 2016 |access-date=April 12, 2020 |archive-date=April 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411205849/https://www.justice-report.com/en/articles/bosnia-mujahideen-prisoner-forced-to-kiss-severed-head |url-status=dead }}</ref> However no indictment was issued by the ICTY against them, but a few Bosnian Army officers were indicted on the basis of ]. Both ] and Enver Hadžihasanović (the indicted Bosnian Army officers) were ultimately acquitted on all counts related to the incidents involving the mujahideen.<ref name="un.org" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Hadžihasanović & Kubura Appeals Only Partially Granted |url=https://www.icty.org/en/press/had%C5%BEihasanovi%C4%87-kubura-appeals-only-partially-granted |website=ICTY.org |publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |date=22 April 2008}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}} In the judgment, the judges concluded that the Mujahideen were responsible for execution of 4 Croatian civilians in the village of Miletići in April 1993, inhumanely treating POWs and killing one at the ] in October 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/press/en/PR1054e%2520-%2520Summary%2520of%2520Judgement%2520for%2520Hadzihasanovic%2520an.pdf |title=Summary of the Judgement for Hadžihasanović and Kubura |access-date=2018-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310142208/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/press/en/PR1054e%20-%20Summary%20of%20Judgement%20for%20Hadzihasanovic%20an.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
The foreign mujahideen units were supposed to be disbanded and required to leave the Balkans under the terms of the 1995 ]. But many stayed - about 400, according to official Bosnian government estimates. Although the US State Department report suggested that the number could be higher, a senior ] official said allied military intelligence estimated that no more than 200 foreign-born militants actually live in Bosnia, of which closer to 30 represent a hard-core group with direct links to terrorism.<ref> , Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001</ref><ref></ref> | |||
The judgments in the cases of Hadžihasanović and Kabura concerned a number of events involving the mujahideen. On June 8, 1993, Bosnian Army units attacked Maljine, a Croat village. After the village was taken, a military police unit of the 306th Brigade of Bosnian Army arrived there. These policemen were tasked with evacuating and protecting the civilians in the villages taken by the Bosnian Army. The wounded were left on-site and around 200 people, including civilians and Croat soldiers, were taken by the police officers towards Mehurici. The commander of the 306th Brigade authorised the wounded be put onto a truck and transported to Mehurici. The 200 villagers who were being escorted to Mehurici by the 306th Brigade military police were intercepted by a group of mujahideens and a dozen Bosnian Army forces in Poljanice. They took prisoner at least 24 military-aged Croats and a 19 years old Croat girl who was wearing a ] armband. The prisoners were taken to Bikoši, between Maljine and Mehurici. All these prisoners including the 19 years old girl were executed in Bikoši while they were being held prisoner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/hadzihas/trialc/judgement/060315/hadz-sum060315.htm|title=ICTY - TPIY|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}} | |||
A sizeable number were granted citizenship by ] in exchange for their fighting in the Bosnian civil war. In September, 50 of these individuals had their citizenship status revoked. Since then 100 more individuals have been prevented from claiming citizenship rights. 250 more were under investigation, while the body which is charged to reconsider the citizenship status of these former mujahideen states that 1,500 cases will eventually be examined.<ref>, Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders, Adrian Morgan, 13 November 2006</ref> | |||
In the ] judgment during the trial of ], the judges concluded that the prosecution had proven that more than 50 Serbs captured during the ] had been killed in the ] by the Mujahideen. Though the judges agreed Delić had effective control over the El Mujahideen unit, he was acquitted from responsibility since ICTY concluded he did not possess enough information to stop them. He was also acquitted from the charge of not saving 24 imprisoned Croat POWs and 19 years old Croat girl Ana Pranješ from being executed by the Mujahideen since the prosecution could not prove he had already assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the ] to which he had been appointed on the same day. The judges concluded that the prosecution had proven that the Mujahideen from July to August 1995 had treated 12 Serbian POWs detained first in the village of Livada and then the Kamenica camp, inhumanely and had killed three of them. Delić was sentenced to three years in prison for not stopping it.<ref name="mts">{{cite web |title=Rasimu Deliću tri godine zatvora |url=http://www.mtsmondo.com/news/vesti/text.php?vest=109558 |website=mtsmondo.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918205259/http://www.mtsmondo.com/news/vesti/text.php?vest=109558 |archive-date=18 September 2008 |date=15 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rasim Delić osuđen na tri godine zatvora |url=http://www.danas.rs/vesti/svet/region/rasim_delic_osudjen_na_tri_godine_zatvora.9.html?news_id=139355 |website=Danas.rs |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113140156/http://www.danas.co.rs/vesti/svet/region/rasim_delic_osudjen_na_tri_godine_zatvora.9.html |archive-date=13 January 2013}}</ref> | |||
In 2015, former Human Rights Minister and Vice President of BiH Federation Mirsad Kebo talked about numerous war crimes committed against Serbs by mujahideen in Bosnia and their links with current and past Muslim officials including former and current presidents of federation and presidents of parliament based on war diaries and other documented evidence. He gave evidence to the BiH federal prosecutor. Kebo also accused ] who at that time was a police commander of ], and others, of deliberately hiding the war crimes. The ] party denounced his accusations as "lies and cheap fabrications."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/bih/Mirsad-Kebo-Novi-dokazi-o-zlocinima-nad-Srbima/282906 |title=Mirsad Kebo: Novi dokazi o zločinima nad Srbima |website=Nezavisne.com |date=10 January 2015 |access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bosniak Politician Evades Censure in War Crimes Row |url=http://www.avim.org.tr/bulten/en/98694 |website=avim.org |publisher=BIRN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122040451/http://www.avim.org.tr/bulten/en/98694 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |date=15 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.srna.rs/novosti/271609/kebo-to-show-evidence-izetbegovic-brought-mujahideen-to-bosnia.htm |title=Kebo To Show Evidence Izetbegovic Brought Mujahideen To Bosnia | Срна |website=Srna.rs |access-date=2016-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510054417/http://www.srna.rs/novosti/271609/kebo-to-show-evidence-izetbegovic-brought-mujahideen-to-bosnia.htm |archive-date=2016-05-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Denis Dzidic |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ex-sda-official-claims-party-men-involved-in-war-crimes |title=Bosnian Party Accused of Harbouring War Criminals |date=13 January 2015 |publisher=Balkan Insight |access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref> The prosecutors investigating Džaferović decided to drop the investigation after examining documents sent by Kebo.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dzidic |first1=Denis |title=Bosnian Serbs Slate Decision Against Probing Dzaferovic |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2015/03/13/bosnian-prosecution-decides-against-investigating-politician/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=13 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
== Links to Al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism== | |||
An Iraqi mujahideen Abduladhim Maktouf was convicted of helping his compatriots to abduct Croat civilians of Travnik in 1993. He was ultimately given a prison term of three years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dizdarevic |first1=Emina |title=Bosnia Awards Iraqi War Crimes Convict €36,600 |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/11/09/bosnia-awards-iraqi-war-crimes-convict-36-000-11-09-2016/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=9 November 2016}}</ref> | |||
Following the end of the Bosnian War and, especially, after the ] on the World Trade Center, the links between the Bosnian Mujahideen, Al Qaeda and the radicalization of some European Muslims has become more widely discussed. In an interview with US journalist ] former US peace envoy to Bosnia ] states: | |||
In 2016, former Bosnian Army Third Corps commander ] was put on trial for having failed to prevent the murders and torture of ] by members of the Mujahideen unit in the ] and ] areas.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dzidic |first1=Denis |title=Report Probes Mujahideen Killings During Bosnian War |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/01/25/bosnian-serb-victims-still-waiting-for-mujahedin-crimes-justice-01-25-2016/ |website=BalkanInsight.com |date=January 25, 2016}}</ref> According to the indictment, 50 Serb ] were killed and several were decapitated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dizdarevic |first1=Emina |title=Bosnian Army Commander Honoured Despite War Crimes Charges |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/08/30/bosnian-army-commander-honoured-despite-war-crimes-charges/ |website=BalkanInsight.com |access-date=18 September 2019 |date=August 30, 2019}}</ref> He was sentenced to 10 years in first instance in January 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fena.ba/article/1193716/army-of-bih-commander-mahmuljin-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-for-war-crime|title=Army of BiH commander Mahmuljin sentenced to 10 years in prison for war crime|website=fena.ba}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bosnian Muslim ex-commander jailed 10 years over war crimes by Islamist fighters |website=] |date=22 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709183220/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bosnia-warcrimes/bosnian-muslim-ex-commander-jailed-10-years-over-war-crimes-by-islamist-fighters-idUSKBN29R1O6?il=0 |archive-date=2023-07-09 |url-status=live |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bosnia-warcrimes/bosnian-muslim-ex-commander-jailed-10-years-over-war-crimes-by-islamist-fighters-idUSKBN29R1O6?il=0}}</ref> | |||
<blockquote>There were over 1,000 people in the country who belonged to what we then called Mujahideen freedom fighters. | |||
===Links to Al-Qaeda and ISIS=== | |||
We now know that that was ]. I'd never heard the word before, but we knew who they were. And if you look at the 9/11 hijackers, several of those hijackers were trained or fought in Bosnia. We cleaned them out, and they had to move much further east into Afghanistan. So if it hadn't been for Dayton, we would have been fighting the terrorists deep in the ravines and caves of Central Bosnia in the heart of Europe. <ref>, A New Constitution for Bosnia, 22 November 2005</ref></blockquote> | |||
US intelligence and phone calls intercepted by the Bosnian government show communication between Al-Qaeda commanders and Bosnian mujahideen.{{sfn|Berger|2011|p=153}} Several of the mujahideen were connected to Al-Qaeda.{{sfn|Berger|2011|p=153}} Osama Bin Laden sent resources to the Bosnian mujahideen.{{sfn|Berger|2011|p=153}} Two of the five ] ], childhood friends ] and ], had been Bosnian mujahideen.<ref>9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5.2, pp. 153–159</ref> ], a senior leader of the ], had fought in Bosnia in 1995.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Joscelyn |first1=Thomas |last2=Adaki |first2=Oren |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/aqap_leader_calls_on.php |title=AQAP official calls on rival factions in Syria to unite against West |newspaper=The Long War Journal |date=1 October 2014 |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref> Bosnian Salafi leader and mujahideen veteran ] was in 2015 sentenced to seven years in prison for public incitement to terrorist activities, recruitment of terrorists to fight with ISIS in Syria.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bosnia Jails Salafist Chief for Recruiting Fighters |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnia-jails-imam-for-recruiting-islamic-state-fighters-11-05-2015 |publisher=BalkanInsight |date=5 November 2015 |access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> | |||
In a 2005 interview with U.S. journalist ], ] said: | |||
In 1996, in a book titled "Offensive In the Balkans", Dr. ], Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the ] from 1988 to 2004, wrote as follows on the "Bosnian Jehad": | |||
<blockquote>There were over 1,000 people in the country who belonged to what we then called Mujahideen freedom fighters. We now know that that was al-Qaida. I'd never heard the word before, but we knew who they were. And if you look at the 9/11 hijackers, several of those hijackers were trained or fought in Bosnia. We cleaned them out, and they had to move much further east into ]. So if it hadn't been for Dayton, we would have been fighting the terrorists deep in the ravines and caves of Central Bosnia in the heart of Europe.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002173827/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/bosnia/july-dec05/holbrooke_11-22.html |date=2013-10-02 }}, A New Constitution for Bosnia, 22 November 2005</ref></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>"...The build-up of new Islamist units was completed in Bosnia- Herzegovina in the Spring of 1995. These forces are closely associated with the Armed Islamist Movement (AIM) and Islamist international terrorismsuicide terrorists), both veteran Arabs and newly trained Bosnians. <ref>, Bosnia & Hyderabad, by B.Raman, 3 September 2001</ref></blockquote> | |||
] wrote: "Some of the most important factors behind the contemporary radicalization of European Muslim youth can be found in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the cream of the Arab mujahideen from Afghanistan tested their battle skills in the post-Soviet era and mobilized a new generation of pan-Islamic revolutionaries". He also noted that Serbian and Croatian sources about the subject are "pure propaganda" based on their historical hatred for ] "as Muslim aliens in the heart of Christian lands".<ref name="slobodnaevropa.org">RFE - Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger - Chapter: Myth Or Present Danger? {{cite web|url=http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/specials/al_kaida/16_mit_ili_stvarna_opasnost.htm |title=Al-Kai'da U Bosni I Hercegovini: Mit Ili Stvarna Opasnost? |access-date=2008-10-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012111333/http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/specials/al_kaida/16_mit_ili_stvarna_opasnost.htm |archive-date=2008-10-12 }}</ref> | |||
London's '']'' has noted, "If Western intervention in Afghanistan created the mujahedin, Western intervention in Bosnia appears to have globalised it." Several current and former top al-Qaeda militants and financiers reportedly participated in the Bosnian civil war with the full support of the United States. It was for the Bosnian jihad that the 9/11 'paymaster', ], was reportedly recruited to fight by the CIA and MI6. Al-Qada, in addition to his reported financing of the Bosnian jihad, has been identified as one of ]'s "chief money launderers". <ref>, Scratching the Surface, by Devlin Buckley, 16 November 2006</ref> In his paper on the connection between Bosnian mujahideen and 'home grown' terrorists in Europe, terrorism expert Evan F. Kohlmann writes that: | |||
<blockquote>Indeed, some of the most important factors behind the contemporary radicalization of European Muslim youth can be found in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the cream of the Arab mujahideen from Afghanistan tested their battle skills in the post-Soviet era and mobilized a new generation of pan-Islamic revolutionaries. <ref>, by Evan F. Kohlmann</ref></blockquote> | |||
According to the Radio Free Europe research "Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger", Bosnia is no more related to the potential terrorism than any other European country.<ref name="slobodnaevropa.org"/> In 2007, Juan Carlos Antúnez in an analysis of the phenomenon of ] in Bosnia concluded that despite Bosnian Serb and Serbian media inflated and often fictitious reports on risk of terrorism and existence of terrorist cells, the risk of a terrorist attack in Bosnia and Herzegovina 'is not higher than in other parts of the world'.<ref>{{citation |mode=cs1 |author=Juan Carlos Antúnez |title=Wahhabism in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Part One |chapter=5. Wahhabi links to international terrorism |chapter-url=http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2468 |publisher=Bosnian Institute |date=16 September 2008 |access-date=5 February 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723222822/http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2468 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
== Further reading == | |||
==Notable people== | |||
*, by, Evan F. Kohlmann. The paper was presented at a conference held by the Swedish National Defence College's Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies (CATS) in Stockholm in May 2006 at the request of Dr. Magnus Ranstorp - former director of the St. Andrews University Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence - and now Chief Scientist at CATS). It is also the title of a by the same author. | |||
*]–Abu el-Ma'ali (d. 2015), Algerian; | |||
*] (N/A), Moroccan; | |||
*] (1975–2001), Saudi; Al Qaeda member and 9/11 hijacker | |||
*] (b. 1961), Algerian; later guilty on support of terrorism charges in France | |||
*] (N/A), Saudi; later guilty on terrorism charges in Morocco | |||
*] (b. 1974), Pakistani-British; tried in the US | |||
*] (b. 1971), French | |||
*] (b. 1978), Saudi Arabian former al-Qa'ida member and MI6 spy | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | |||
*] | |||
{{Reflist|30em}} | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
==Sources== | |||
== External links == | |||
{{refbegin}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Lebl |first=Leslie S. |title=Islamism and Security in Bosnia-Herzegovina |publisher=Strategic Studies Institute |year=2014 |isbn=978-1584876229 |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1206.pdf#page=21 |pages=21, 26 |access-date=2022-04-01 |archive-date=2017-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302001335/https://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1206.pdf#page=21 |url-status=dead }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Deliso|first=Christopher|title=The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7dq8mi0DWkC|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99525-6}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Kohlmann|first=Evan|title=Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network|url=https://archive.org/details/alqaidasjihadine0000kohl|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Berg Publishers|isbn=978-1-85973-802-3}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Schwartz|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Suleyman Schwartz|year=2004|title=Wahhabism and al-Qaeda in Bosnia-Herzegovina|url=https://jamestown.org/program/wahhabism-and-al-qaeda-in-bosnia-herzegovina-2/|journal=Terrorism Monitor|volume=2|issue=20|publisher=]}} | |||
*Zosak, Stephanie. "Revoking citizenship in the name of counterterrorism: the citizenship review commission violates human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina." Nw. UJ Int'l Hum. Rts. 8 (2009): 216 | |||
* {{cite book|last=Moghadam|first=Assaf|title=The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks|publisher=JHU Press|year=2011|isbn=9781421400587}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Shrader|first=Charles R.|title=The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_ceXJTw71MC|year=2003|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-58544-261-4}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Innes|first=Michael A.|title=Bosnian Security After Dayton: New Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9x9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA157|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-14872-1|pages=157–}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Farmer|first=Brian R.|title=Radical Islam in the West: Ideology and Challenge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCxV7ERw09oC|year=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6210-0}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Berger|first=J. M.|title=Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/jihadjoeamerican0000berg|url-access=registration|year=2011|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59797-693-0|pages=–}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Mark|title=Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfFrZ2_KnnwC|year=2010|publisher=Profile Books|isbn=978-1-84668-763-1}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Hegghammer|first=Thomas|year=2011|title=The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad|journal=]|volume=35|issue=3|pages=53–94|doi=10.1162/ISEC_a_00023|url=https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/The_Rise_of_Muslim_Foreign_Fighters.pdf|publisher=]|s2cid=40379198}} | |||
* {{cite web |last1=Donnelly |first1=Maria Galperin |last2=Sanderson |first2=Thomas M. |last3=Fellman |first3=Zack |title=Foreign Fighters in History |url=https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/171220_history_foreign_fighter_project.pdf |website=Web Services |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies |date=2017}} | |||
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8Xb6x2XYvIC |last=Schindler |first=John R. |title=Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad |location=New York City |publisher=Zenith Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780760330036 }} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== Further reading == | |||
*, Balkan extremists, 12 July 2007 | |||
* , by, Evan F. Kohlmann. The paper was presented at a conference held by the Swedish National Defence College's Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies (CATS) in Stockholm in May 2006 at the request of Dr. Magnus Ranstorp - former director of the St. Andrews University Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence - and now Chief Scientist at CATS. It is also the title of a by the same author. | |||
*, Bahraini key witness in Hague atrocity trial, 7 September 2007 | |||
*, ] | |||
*, Muslim fighter begins testimony in Bosnia trial, 7 September 2007 | |||
* {{cite web |author=International Crisis Group |author-link=International Crisis Group |url=http://www.operationspaix.net/DATA/DOCUMENT/7825~v~Bosnias_Dangerous_Tango__Islam_and_Nationalism.pdf |title=Bosnia's Dangerous Tango: Islam and Nationalism |date=26 February 2013 |access-date=17 April 2015 |ref={{harvid|ICG|2013}} |archive-date=6 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206162929/http://www.operationspaix.net/DATA/DOCUMENT/7825~v~Bosnias_Dangerous_Tango__Islam_and_Nationalism.pdf |url-status=dead }} | |||
*, The Bosnian Connection, The civil war that inspired both liberal hawks and Islamist jihadis, by Brendan O’Neill | |||
*, Vlado Azinovic's research about the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and the role of Arab fighters in the Bosnian War | |||
* video of Bosnian General Rasim Delic delivering his farewell speech to the El Mujaheed | |||
*, Survivor from Kamenica Camp testifies at Rasim Delic trial, 3 October 2007 | |||
*, CTY: BiH Army Knew About Mujahedin Crimes, 8 September 2007 | |||
*, profile of Rasim Delic, former Chief of Staff of the Army of Bosnian Muslims responsible for the Bosnian Mujahideen | |||
* against Rasim Delic | |||
*, Republican Policy Committee, by Chairman Larry E. Craig, 16 January 1997 | |||
*, by Carl Savich for ''Serbianna'' (Serbian organization based in the United States), 4 December 2007 | |||
* by Michal Warczakowski at vojska.net | |||
== |
== External links == | ||
* {{in lang|bs}} | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
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*, CTY: BiH Army Knew About Mujahedin Crimes, 8 September 2007 | |||
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{{Link FA|bs}} | |||
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{{Yugoslav wars}} | {{Yugoslav wars}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 15:18, 25 December 2024
Muslim volunteers of 1992–1995 Bosnian War Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Mujahid (disambiguation) and Mujahideen (disambiguation).Bosnian mujahideen | |
---|---|
Active | 1992–95 |
Disbanded | 1995 |
Country | Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Branch | Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Type | Infantry |
Size | estimates vary from 500 to 5,000. Most estimates are in the 1,000-2,000 range (details) |
Engagements | Bosnian War |
Bosnian mujahideen (Bosnian: Bosanski mudžahedini), also called El Mudžahid (Arabic: مجاهد, mujāhid), were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosnian Muslim side during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. They first arrived in central Bosnia in the latter half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists in fights against Serb and Croat forces. Initially they mainly came from Arab countries, later from other Muslim-majority countries. Estimates of their numbers vary from 500 to 5,000 with most estimates in the 1,000–2,000 range.
Bosnian War
Further information: Bosnian War and Foreign support in the Bosnian WarIn the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence. War broke out in Croatia between the Croatian Army and the breakaway Serb Krajina. Meanwhile, the Bosnian Muslims voted for independence. Bosnian Serbs declared an autonomous province, independent of Bosnia, and Bosnian Croats took similar steps. The war broke out in April 1992.
Muslim foreign fighters came to support the Bosnian Muslims and an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were also Islamist organizations and Muslim non-profit organizations and charitable trusts that supported the Bosnian Muslims.
Volunteer mujahideen arrived from all around the world, including Afghanistan, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia (especially around Chechnya and Dagestan), Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Somalia and Yemen. The Bosnian mujahideen were primarily from Iran, Afghanistan and numerous Arab countries.
Foreign mujahideen arrived in central Bosnia in the second half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists to defend themselves from the Serb and Croat forces. Some originally went as humanitarian workers, while some of them were considered criminals in their home countries for illegally travelling to Bosnia and becoming soldiers. On 13 August 1993, the Bosnian government officially organized foreign volunteers into the detachment known as El Mudžahid in order to impose control and order. Initially, the foreign mujahideen gave food and other basic necessities to the local Muslim population, who were deprived of such by the Serb forces. Once hostilities broke out between the Bosnian government and the Croat forces (HVO), the mujahideen also participated in battles against the HVO alongside ARBiH units.
The foreign mujahideen sometimes recruited local young men into the foreign mujahideen units. Accordingly, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) noted that it was sometimes "difficult to distinguish between the two groups". For that reason, the ICTY has used the term "Mujahideen" (which they spell Mujahedin) for both fighters from Arab countries, and also local Muslims who joined the mujahideen units.
The first mujahideen training camp was located in Poljanice next to the village of Mehurici, in the Bila valley, Travnik municipality. The mujahideen group established there included mujahideen from Arab countries as well as some Bosniaks. The mujahideen from Poljanice camp were also established in the towns of Zenica and Travnik and, from the second half of 1993 onwards, in the village of Orasac, also located in the Bila valley.
The military effectiveness of the mujahideen is disputed. However, former U.S. Balkans peace negotiator Richard Holbrooke said in an interview that he thought "the Muslims wouldn't have survived without this" help, as at the time a U.N. arms embargo diminished the Bosnian government's fighting capabilities. In 2001, Holbrooke called the arrival of the mujahideen "a pact with the devil" from which Bosnia still is recovering. On the other hand, according to general Stjepan Šiber, the highest ranking ethnic Croat in the Bosnian Army, the key role in foreign volunteers arrival was played by Tuđman and Croatian counter-intelligence with the aim to justify the involvement of Croatia in the Bosnian War and the crimes committed by Croat forces. Although the Bosnian President Alija Izetbegović regarded them as symbolically valuable as a sign of the Muslim world's support for Bosnia, they appear to have made little military difference and became a major political liability.
Size
Estimates of the mujahideen forces size vary. In 2003, Charles R. Shrader reported that HVO general Tihomir Blaškić had estimated 3,000 to 4,000, but the actual figure would probably be closer to 2,000, based on testimonies given in the ICTY trial against Dario Kordić and Mario Čerkez [bs]. In 2004, Evan Kohlmann stated that "the deployment of Arab fighters in Bosnia who were generally loyal to the jihadi leadership in Afghanistan exploded in the mid-1990s into numbers sometimes estimated even to exceed 5,000". Stephen Schwartz stated that "up to 6,000 “Arab Afghan” volunteers arrived in the country and enlisted in combat." In 2011, Thomas Hegghammer estimated the number of foreign Muslim fighters in Bosnia to be 1,000–2,000. In 2013, the International Crisis Group estimated that "between 2,000 and 5,000 fought in BiH." In 2017, a Center for Strategic and International Studies report stated that "figures range from 500–5,000 with a preponderance of estimates in the 1,000–2,000 range", citing Hegghammer for the later estimate.
Relationship to the Bosnian Army
ICTY found that there was one battalion-sized unit called El Mudžahid (El Mujahid). It was established on 13 August 1993, by the Bosnian Army, which decided to form a unit of foreign fighters in order to impose control over them as the number of the foreign volunteers started to increase. The El Mudžahid unit was initially attached to and supplied by the regular Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), even though they often operated independently as a special unit.
According to the ICTY indictment of Rasim Delić, Commander of Main Staff of the Bosnian army (ARBiH), after the formation of the 7th Muslim Brigade on 19 November 1992, the El Mudžahid were subordinated within its structure. According to a UN communiqué of 1995, the El Mudžahid battalion was "directly dependent on Bosnian staff for supplies" and for "directions" during combat with the Serb forces. The issue has formed part of two ICTY war crimes trials against two former senior officials in the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of superior criminal responsibility. In its Trial Chamber judgement in the case of ICTY v. Enver Hadžihasanović, commander of the ARBiH 3rd Corps (who was later made part of the joint command of the ARBiH and was the Chief of the Supreme Command Staff), and Amir Kubura, commander of the 7th Muslim Brigade of the 3rd Corps of the ARBiH, the Trial Chamber found that:
the foreign Mujahedin established at Poljanice camp were not officially part of the 3rd Corps or the 7th Brigade of the ARBiH. Accordingly, the Prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the foreign Mujahedin officially joined the ARBiH and that they were de iure subordinated to the Accused Enver Hadžihasanović and Amir Kubura.
It also found that:
there are significant indicia of a subordinate relationship between the Mujahedin and the Accused prior to August 13, 1993. Testimony heard by the Trial Chamber and, in the main, documents tendered into evidence demonstrate that the ARBiH maintained a close relationship with the foreign Mujahedin as soon as these arrived in central Bosnia in 1992. Joint combat operations are one illustration of that. In Karaula and Visoko in 1992, at Mount Zmajevac around mid-April 1993 and in the Bila valley in June 1993, the Mujahedin fought alongside ARBiH units against Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat forces."
However, the ICTY Appeals Chamber in April 2008 concluded that the relationship between the 3rd Corps of the Bosnian Army headed by Hadžihasanović and the El Mudžahid detachment was not one of subordination but was instead close to overt hostility since the only way to control the detachment was to attack them as if they were a distinct enemy force.
After the war
In 1995, veterans of the Bosnian mujahideen established the Active Islamic Youth, regarded the most dangerous of the Islamist groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Citizenship controversy
The foreign mujahideen were required to leave the Balkans under the terms of the 1995 Dayton Agreement, but many stayed. Although the U.S. State Department report suggested that the number could be higher, an unnamed SFOR official said allied military intelligence estimated that no more than 200 foreign-born militants actually lived in Bosnia in 2001, of whom around 30 represented a hard-core group with direct or indirect links to terrorism.
In September 2007, 50 of these individuals had their citizenship status revoked. Since then 100 more individuals have been prevented from claiming citizenship rights. 250 more were under investigation, while the body which is charged with reconsidering the citizenship status of the foreign volunteers in the Bosnian War, including Christian fighters from Russia and Western Europe, states that 1,500 cases will eventually be examined.
War crimes trials
Main articles: Enver Hadžihasanović, Amir Kubura, and Rasim DelićIt was alleged that Bosnian mujahideen participated in war crimes, including the killing, torture and beheading of Serbian and Croat civilians and soldiers. However no indictment was issued by the ICTY against them, but a few Bosnian Army officers were indicted on the basis of command responsibility. Both Amir Kubura and Enver Hadžihasanović (the indicted Bosnian Army officers) were ultimately acquitted on all counts related to the incidents involving the mujahideen. In the judgment, the judges concluded that the Mujahideen were responsible for execution of 4 Croatian civilians in the village of Miletići in April 1993, inhumanely treating POWs and killing one at the Orašac camp in October 1993.
The judgments in the cases of Hadžihasanović and Kabura concerned a number of events involving the mujahideen. On June 8, 1993, Bosnian Army units attacked Maljine, a Croat village. After the village was taken, a military police unit of the 306th Brigade of Bosnian Army arrived there. These policemen were tasked with evacuating and protecting the civilians in the villages taken by the Bosnian Army. The wounded were left on-site and around 200 people, including civilians and Croat soldiers, were taken by the police officers towards Mehurici. The commander of the 306th Brigade authorised the wounded be put onto a truck and transported to Mehurici. The 200 villagers who were being escorted to Mehurici by the 306th Brigade military police were intercepted by a group of mujahideens and a dozen Bosnian Army forces in Poljanice. They took prisoner at least 24 military-aged Croats and a 19 years old Croat girl who was wearing a Red Cross armband. The prisoners were taken to Bikoši, between Maljine and Mehurici. All these prisoners including the 19 years old girl were executed in Bikoši while they were being held prisoner.
In the ICTY judgment during the trial of Rasim Delić, the judges concluded that the prosecution had proven that more than 50 Serbs captured during the Battle for Vozuća had been killed in the Kamenica camp by the Mujahideen. Though the judges agreed Delić had effective control over the El Mujahideen unit, he was acquitted from responsibility since ICTY concluded he did not possess enough information to stop them. He was also acquitted from the charge of not saving 24 imprisoned Croat POWs and 19 years old Croat girl Ana Pranješ from being executed by the Mujahideen since the prosecution could not prove he had already assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the ARBiH to which he had been appointed on the same day. The judges concluded that the prosecution had proven that the Mujahideen from July to August 1995 had treated 12 Serbian POWs detained first in the village of Livada and then the Kamenica camp, inhumanely and had killed three of them. Delić was sentenced to three years in prison for not stopping it.
In 2015, former Human Rights Minister and Vice President of BiH Federation Mirsad Kebo talked about numerous war crimes committed against Serbs by mujahideen in Bosnia and their links with current and past Muslim officials including former and current presidents of federation and presidents of parliament based on war diaries and other documented evidence. He gave evidence to the BiH federal prosecutor. Kebo also accused Šefik Džaferović who at that time was a police commander of Zenica, and others, of deliberately hiding the war crimes. The SDA party denounced his accusations as "lies and cheap fabrications." The prosecutors investigating Džaferović decided to drop the investigation after examining documents sent by Kebo.
An Iraqi mujahideen Abduladhim Maktouf was convicted of helping his compatriots to abduct Croat civilians of Travnik in 1993. He was ultimately given a prison term of three years.
In 2016, former Bosnian Army Third Corps commander Sakib Mahmuljin was put on trial for having failed to prevent the murders and torture of Bosnian Serbs by members of the Mujahideen unit in the Vozuća and Zavidovići areas. According to the indictment, 50 Serb prisoners of war were killed and several were decapitated. He was sentenced to 10 years in first instance in January 2021.
Links to Al-Qaeda and ISIS
US intelligence and phone calls intercepted by the Bosnian government show communication between Al-Qaeda commanders and Bosnian mujahideen. Several of the mujahideen were connected to Al-Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden sent resources to the Bosnian mujahideen. Two of the five 9/11 hijackers, childhood friends Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, had been Bosnian mujahideen. Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, a senior leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, had fought in Bosnia in 1995. Bosnian Salafi leader and mujahideen veteran Bilal Bosnić was in 2015 sentenced to seven years in prison for public incitement to terrorist activities, recruitment of terrorists to fight with ISIS in Syria.
In a 2005 interview with U.S. journalist Jim Lehrer, Richard Holbrooke said:
There were over 1,000 people in the country who belonged to what we then called Mujahideen freedom fighters. We now know that that was al-Qaida. I'd never heard the word before, but we knew who they were. And if you look at the 9/11 hijackers, several of those hijackers were trained or fought in Bosnia. We cleaned them out, and they had to move much further east into Afghanistan. So if it hadn't been for Dayton, we would have been fighting the terrorists deep in the ravines and caves of Central Bosnia in the heart of Europe.
Evan Kohlmann wrote: "Some of the most important factors behind the contemporary radicalization of European Muslim youth can be found in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the cream of the Arab mujahideen from Afghanistan tested their battle skills in the post-Soviet era and mobilized a new generation of pan-Islamic revolutionaries". He also noted that Serbian and Croatian sources about the subject are "pure propaganda" based on their historical hatred for Bosniaks "as Muslim aliens in the heart of Christian lands".
According to the Radio Free Europe research "Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger", Bosnia is no more related to the potential terrorism than any other European country. In 2007, Juan Carlos Antúnez in an analysis of the phenomenon of Wahhabism in Bosnia concluded that despite Bosnian Serb and Serbian media inflated and often fictitious reports on risk of terrorism and existence of terrorist cells, the risk of a terrorist attack in Bosnia and Herzegovina 'is not higher than in other parts of the world'.
Notable people
- Abdelkader Mokhtari–Abu el-Ma'ali (d. 2015), Algerian;
- Karim Said Atmani (N/A), Moroccan;
- Khalid al-Mihdhar (1975–2001), Saudi; Al Qaeda member and 9/11 hijacker
- Fateh Kamel (b. 1961), Algerian; later guilty on support of terrorism charges in France
- Zuher al-Tbaiti (N/A), Saudi; later guilty on terrorism charges in Morocco
- Babar Ahmad (b. 1974), Pakistani-British; tried in the US
- Lionel Dumont (b. 1971), French
- Aimen Dean (b. 1978), Saudi Arabian former al-Qa'ida member and MI6 spy
See also
References
- Schrader, Charles R. (2003). The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994. Texas A&M University Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781585442614.
- Rovcanin, Haris (30 March 2022). "Punishment Urged for Wartime Bosnian Army Commander". Balkan Insight.
..members of the El Mujahideen unit killed 55 captured Bosnian Serb Army soldiers in the Vozuca and Zavidovici areas from July to September 1995 and cut some of their heads off..
- "Rasim Delić Case Information Sheet" (PDF). haguejusticeportal.net. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
- "Bosnia: The cradle of modern jihadism?". BBC News. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ Donnelly, Sanderson & Fellman 2017, p. 8.
- Chifton, Paul; Ilyn, Mikhail V.; Mey, Jacob L., eds. (1998). Political Discourse in Transition in Europe 1989 1991. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 9789027282620.
- Fisk, Robert (7 September 2014). "After the atrocities committed against Muslims in Bosnia, it is no wonder today's jihadis have set out on the path to war in Syria". The Independent.
- Farmer 2010, p. 126.
- Berger 2011, p. 55.
- Majeed, Tariq (1995). "Afghanistan, Kashmir and Bosnia: Mutual Linkages and Common Direction". Strategic Studies. 18 (2–3): 102–117. JSTOR 45182211.
- Hunter, Shireen T. (2016). God on Our Side: Religion in International Affairs. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-4422-7259-0.
- Vidino, Lorenzo; Pantucci, Raffaello; Kohlmann, Evan (2010). "Bringing Global Jihad to theHorn of Africa: al Shabaab, Western Fighters, and the Sacralization of the Somali Conflict". African Security. 3 (4): 216–238. ISSN 1939-2206.
- Lebl 2014, p. 8.
- Innes 2006, p. 157.
- "Humanitarian worker turned Mujahideen". Archived from the original on 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ "ICTY: Summary of the judgement for Enver Hadžihasanović and Amir Kubura" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
- "ICTY Summary of the Judgment for Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura: Section VI. The Mujahedin". 15 March 2006.
- Adrian Morgan (13 November 2006). "Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders". Spero News. Archived from the original on 2006-11-23.
- ^ LA Times, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001
- "Predrag Matvejević analysis". Archived from the original on 2012-12-08.
- Shrader 2003, p. 179.
- Kohlmann 2004, p. xii.
- Schwartz 2004.
- Hegghammer 2011.
- ICG 2013, p. 14.
- ^ "Appeals Judgement Summary for the Case of Hadžihasanović and Kubura". ICTY.org. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009.
- Curtis 2010, p. 207.
- The American Conservative Archived 2008-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, The Bosnian Connection, by Brendan O’Neill, 16 July 2007
- Deliso 2007, p. 18.
- "BBC News - EUROPE - Mujahideen fight Bosnia evictions". Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- "'Brutal crimes' of Bosnia Muslims". BBC News. December 2, 2003.
- Berger 2011, p. 93.
- Swicord, Jeff (November 17, 2015). "Seeds of Jihad Planted in the Balkans". Voice of America.
- Erjavec, Dragana (June 8, 2016). "Bosnia Mujahideen Prisoner 'Forced to Kiss Severed Head'". JusticeReport. BIRN. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- "Hadžihasanović & Kubura Appeals Only Partially Granted". ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 22 April 2008.
- "Summary of the Judgement for Hadžihasanović and Kubura" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- "ICTY - TPIY". Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- "Rasimu Deliću tri godine zatvora". mtsmondo.com. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008.
- "Rasim Delić osuđen na tri godine zatvora". Danas.rs. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013.
- "Mirsad Kebo: Novi dokazi o zločinima nad Srbima". Nezavisne.com. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
- "Bosniak Politician Evades Censure in War Crimes Row". avim.org. BIRN. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015.
- "Kebo To Show Evidence Izetbegovic Brought Mujahideen To Bosnia | Срна". Srna.rs. Archived from the original on 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
- Denis Dzidic (13 January 2015). "Bosnian Party Accused of Harbouring War Criminals". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
- Dzidic, Denis (13 March 2015). "Bosnian Serbs Slate Decision Against Probing Dzaferovic". Balkan Insight.
- Dizdarevic, Emina (9 November 2016). "Bosnia Awards Iraqi War Crimes Convict €36,600". Balkan Insight.
- Dzidic, Denis (January 25, 2016). "Report Probes Mujahideen Killings During Bosnian War". BalkanInsight.com.
- Dizdarevic, Emina (August 30, 2019). "Bosnian Army Commander Honoured Despite War Crimes Charges". BalkanInsight.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- "Army of BiH commander Mahmuljin sentenced to 10 years in prison for war crime". fena.ba.
- "Bosnian Muslim ex-commander jailed 10 years over war crimes by Islamist fighters". Reuters. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09.
- ^ Berger 2011, p. 153.
- 9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5.2, pp. 153–159
- Joscelyn, Thomas; Adaki, Oren (1 October 2014). "AQAP official calls on rival factions in Syria to unite against West". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- "Bosnia Jails Salafist Chief for Recruiting Fighters". BalkanInsight. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- PBS Newshour with Jim Jim Lehrer Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, A New Constitution for Bosnia, 22 November 2005
- ^ RFE - Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger - Chapter: Myth Or Present Danger? "Al-Kai'da U Bosni I Hercegovini: Mit Ili Stvarna Opasnost?". Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- Juan Carlos Antúnez (16 September 2008). "5. Wahhabi links to international terrorism". Wahhabism in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Part One. Bosnian Institute. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
Sources
- Lebl, Leslie S. (2014). Islamism and Security in Bosnia-Herzegovina (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. pp. 21, 26. ISBN 978-1584876229. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
- Deliso, Christopher (2007). The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-99525-6.
- Kohlmann, Evan (2004). Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-802-3.
- Schwartz, Stephen (2004). "Wahhabism and al-Qaeda in Bosnia-Herzegovina". Terrorism Monitor. 2 (20). Jamestown Foundation.
- Zosak, Stephanie. "Revoking citizenship in the name of counterterrorism: the citizenship review commission violates human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina." Nw. UJ Int'l Hum. Rts. 8 (2009): 216
- Moghadam, Assaf (2011). The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks. JHU Press. ISBN 9781421400587.
- Shrader, Charles R. (2003). The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Central Bosnia: A Military History, 1992-1994. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-58544-261-4.
- Innes, Michael A. (2006). Bosnian Security After Dayton: New Perspectives. Routledge. pp. 157–. ISBN 978-1-134-14872-1.
- Farmer, Brian R. (2010). Radical Islam in the West: Ideology and Challenge. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6210-0.
- Berger, J. M. (2011). Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-1-59797-693-0.
- Curtis, Mark (2010). Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-763-1.
- Hegghammer, Thomas (2011). "The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad" (PDF). International Security. 35 (3). MIT Press: 53–94. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00023. S2CID 40379198.
- Donnelly, Maria Galperin; Sanderson, Thomas M.; Fellman, Zack (2017). "Foreign Fighters in History" (PDF). Web Services. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
- Schindler, John R. (2007). Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad. New York City: Zenith Press. ISBN 9780760330036.
Further reading
- The Afghan-Bosnian Mujahideen Network in Europe, by, Evan F. Kohlmann. The paper was presented at a conference held by the Swedish National Defence College's Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies (CATS) in Stockholm in May 2006 at the request of Dr. Magnus Ranstorp - former director of the St. Andrews University Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence - and now Chief Scientist at CATS. It is also the title of a book by the same author.
- Christopher Deliso, John R. Schindler and Shaul Shay on al-Qaeda in Bosnia, Marko Attila Hoare
- International Crisis Group (26 February 2013). "Bosnia's Dangerous Tango: Islam and Nationalism" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- Radio Free Europe - Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger, Vlado Azinovic's research about the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and the role of Arab fighters in the Bosnian War
External links
- Radio Free Europe - Al-Qaeda In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Myth Or Present Danger (in Bosnian)
- Radio Free Europe - Bosnia-Herzegovina: New Book Investigates Presence Of Al-Qaeda
- Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), CTY: BiH Army Knew About Mujahedin Crimes, 8 September 2007