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Bosnia: A New Sanctuary for Islamic State in the Middle of Europe
(Der Spiegel-Germany) Walter Mayr - A new sanctuary for Islamic State fighters, planners and recruiters has been established in the middle of Europe. In some remote Bosnian villages, the black flag of IS is flown and, as a share of the population, more fighters from Bosnia-Herzegovina have joined IS than from any other country in Europe, except for Belgium. Some 200-300 Islamist radicals have left Bosnia-Herzegovina to join IS or al-Qaeda in Syria or Iraq. Two of the most wanted terrorists in the world are among them: Bajro Ikanovic, for many years the commander of the largest IS training camp in northern Syria; and Nusret Imamovic, a leading member of the Nusra Front in Syria, a group tied to al-Qaeda. Bosnia, says the American Balkan expert and former NSA employee John Schindler, "is considered something of a 'safehouse' for radicals," and now harbors a stable terrorist infrastructure.