Pristina: Kosovo lawmakers on Thursday adopted legislation banning citizens from fighting in foreign conflicts in a bid to prevent young people from joining jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

The legislation provides for up to 15 years behind bars for anyone violating the ban on taking part in armed conflicts abroad.

It specifically forbids participation in a foreign army, police or paramilitary formations in any form of conflict outside the territory of Kosovo.

Seven Kosovars have been indicted on terrorism charges for planning to take up arms with the Islamic State or for recruiting fighters in Kosovo, the first such indictment to be raised in the country since more than 50 people were arrested last year.

The indictment, which names the seven defendants, says they “agreed to go to war in Syria and join a group of Albanians fighting for the terrorist organization ISIL,” the Kosovo prosecutor's office said.

Five people in Kosovo have been indicted on terrorism charges for fighting in Syria, trying to buy assault rifles and assaulting two Christian missionaries from the United States in 2013.

The indictments coincided with a vote in parliament on introducing prison sentences for waging war abroad, as the predominantly Muslim Balkan country seeks to confront the threat posed by radical Islamists returning from Syria and Iraq.

Kreshnik Berisha was sentenced today in Frankfurt to three years and nine months in prison for joining the organization of Islamic State (ISIS). Last year, Berisha was accused that he traveled to Syria where he stayed for five months, and fought alongside ISIS, Indeksonline reports. This is the first trial in Germany held for someone who joined ISIS. Berisha, 20 years old, was born in Germany to Kosovo Albanian parents.

Graffiti reading the threat “the caliphate is coming” and signatures KLA, Albanian National Army and the Islamic state (ISIS) appeared on Sunday on the property of the monastery of Visoki Dečani. The Serbs who are living there and brotherhood of the monastery are upset, because lately more than 200 young Albanians from Kosovo joined the jihad in Iraq and Syria, and there are fears that the jihadists could organize terrorist attacks even in Kosovo.

German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung mentions that Kosovo, from where in the wars in the Middle East has already been killed more than 40 people, and Bosnia with more than 30 killed, are leading countries for the recruitment of jihadists in the Balkans. The paper points out that Serbia is undertaking measures, which provide even the ten-year sentence, in order to impede or prevent Islamic groups to recruit the fighters.

Kosovo Police issued a press release today confirming that 15 persons were arrested in several locations. After several months of investigations and in cooperation with State Prosecution, Kosovo Police this morning conducted a country-wide operation to arrest people suspected of committing criminal offenses against the constitutional order and security in the Republic of Kosovo.

A group of youth, members of the Kosovo Democratic Youth met in Pristina head of Islamic Community, Mufti Naim Ternava.

The meeting focused on current developments in Kosovo and also on the act of burning the ISIS flag in Pristina. The youths explained that their act yesterday was not intended to insult religious feelings of Kosovo Muslims. The aim of the act, the youths said, was to oppose terrorist actions of the ISIS group and their criminal acts directed at children and women  which are in conflict to Islam.

The Basic Court of Kosovo announced today a 30-day detention measure against forty people suspected of participating in fighting in Syria and Iraq alongside terrorist organizations ISIS and Al-Nusra. A defense attorney told reporters that this is bad news for Kosovo’s image because the court failed to secure evidence that would confirm the alleged activities of the suspects. The attorney said this also confirms the failure of security institutions in Kosovo to prevent such activities.