Kosovo police arrest 19 suspected terrorists

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia

Kosovo police have arrested 19 all men suspected of links to Daesh and of planning to carry out attacks in Kosovo and the wider region, said a police statement Thursday.

"There is ample evidence that the identified people planned to commit terrorist attacks against Israeli supporters and national team cadets who are expected to come to an Albanian-Israeli match as well as in Kosovo," said the statement.

An Albania-Israeli football match as part of World Cup qualifiers is set to be held in Elbasan, central Albania on Saturday.

The suspects planning terrorist attacks were coordinating with Daesh terrorists in Syria and had precise targets of who and when they would attack, added the statement.

Eighteen of the suspects detained since Nov. 4 are Kosovar citizens, while one is a Macedonian citizen.

The prosecutor's office decided to detain 18 of the suspects for 30 days, while the one remaining was released after 48 hours.

The police also seized explosives and weapons in the operation.