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Kosovo court sentences six for planning attacks on KFOR and SPC (N1, KoSSev, Beta)

The Basic Pristina Court sentenced six people to a total of 25 years in jail for planning terrorist attacks on the members of the NATO-led KFOR, the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and discotheques in Serb-populated parts of Kosovo, the KoSSev website reported on Wednesday.

The individual sentences vary from ten years to 12 months in prison.

In Balkans highest concentration of jihadist returnees, Kosovo leads (KoSSev)

The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) in its analysis entitled "Western Balkans Foreign Fighters and Homegrown Jihadis: Trends and Implications" reports that since 2012, about 1,070 citizens of Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro travelled to Syria and Iraq, primarily joining the Islamic State, and to a lesser extent al-Qaeda (Jabhat al Nusra, more recently rebranded as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham - HTS).

US urges caution, warns of possible terror attacks in Kosovo (Fox News, AP)

The United States is warning its citizens to "exercise increased caution in Kosovo due to terrorism" and listed some areas Washington thinks are at increased risk.

The State Department warning issued Friday said that "terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in the Balkans region, including Kosovo."

Kosovo Braces for Security Challenge of Returning Fighters (BIRN)

A draft strategy developed by the government says fighters coming back from the Middle East, as Islamic State collapses, pose the next major challenge to the country's security.

The Kosovo government’s new National Strategy against Terrorism and Action Plan 2018-2022 says fighters returning from conflict zones in the Middle East, as the so-called Islamic State, ISIS, collapses, are the next challenge in the country’s battle against the threat of terrorism.

Italy expels Macedonian and Albanian for Islamist ties (B92)

Italy has expelled a Macedonian and an Albanian citizen for their ties with radical Islam, the Macedonian media reported on Thursday.

According to this, they were found to have been in contact with Muslim radicals arrested in Kosovo for terrorism, whose computers contained "anti-western and anti-Semitic material."

Ministry of Interior leads work on drafting new anti-terrorism strategy (RTK)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Interior has begun work on drafting a new strategy against terrorism that will cover the period from 2017 to 2022. The work will be led by Deputy Minister Valdet Hoxha who also exercises the post of National Anti-Terrorism Coordinator. Hoxha thanked all relevant local and international institutions for their contribution in implementation of the last anti-terrorism strategy and urged the members of the new working group to prepare a practical, effective and efficient document.

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US to send 130 more soldiers to Kosovo (B92, Blic)

Analysts say the US announcement of sending an additional 130 troops to Kosovo to support KFOR and NATO is a message to warmongering politicians in the region.

The troops in question are members of US special units of the Tupelo-based 1st Battalion, "highly trained for emergency response," the daily Blic is reporting.

Kosovo prosecution charges imam with terrorism (media)

Kosovo Special Prosecution has filed an indictment at the Basic Court in Pristina against an imam for “inciting terrorist actions”. The imam, who the media claim is Shefqet Krasniqi from the “Mehmet Fatih” mosque in Pristina, is also accused of inciting hatred and tax evasion. He is believed to have encouraged people through the social media and other outlets to join conflicts in Syria and Iraq and commit terrorist acts.

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The people who are recruiting fighters for Syria are the problem (N1)

Kosovo police, in cooperation with the Kosovo Intelligence Agency prevented planned terrorist attacks in Kosovo and the region. Target of the attack were footballers, and supporters of Israel during a match in Albania. Miloš Popović from the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy says the objective of the arrested group is transnational because of connections with IS and the target of the attack shows it.