Serbian police yesterday arrested 17 people in the Muslim-populated area of Sandzak after a suspected radical Islamist opened fire on the US embassy in Sarajevo, local media reported.
“This morning at 5am a [police] operation was launched against the extremist Islamist Wahhabi movement in the territory of Novi Pazar, Sjenica and Tutin,” Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told the Tanjug news agency.
All three towns are in southwestern Serbia with large Muslim communities.
“Seventeen people were arrested, one of them from Bosnia,” Serbian police chief Milorad Veljovic told the private B92 TV channel.
The arrests came after the attack on the US embassy by a Serbian national with ties to the local Wahhabi community, a radical branch of Islam.
“Police will determine whether there is a need to detain more people,” Veljovic said.
The suspected radical Islamist, a Serb national from Novi Pazar identified by Bosnian police as Mevlid Jasarevic, was wounded and arrested after opening fire on Friday on the US embassy in Sarajevo. A police guard was wounded in the attack.
Local TV showed video footage of a bearded man carrying a Kalashnikov rifle.
A special police unit shot and wounded the suspect before arresting him, police spokesman Irfan Nefic told national BHT TV.
“The person who fired an automatic weapon was wounded and arrested during the police operation,” he said. “After receiving medical treatment on the scene the person was hospitalized.”
A statement from the US embassy, which closed after the incident, confirmed that the building “had been attacked with an automatic weapon” and had been hit “several times.”
It urged US citizens to “use caution, watch for any suspicious or unusual activity and remain aware of their surroundings.”
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland welcomed the prompt reaction of the Bosnian police.
Bosnian politicians were quick to denounce the attack.
“I firmly condemn the terrorist attack on the US embassy in Bosnia-Hercegovina,” Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia’s three-man presidency, said in a statement.
Following the attack, Bosnian Acting President Zeljko Komsic met US ambassador Patrick Moon.
He told him that Bosnia was capable of “guaranteeing the security of all US citizens and diplomatic representatives” in the country.
“Our country is not a haven for terrorists,” he stressed, as the presidency said it had called a special meeting of all Bosnian police branches.
“I expect the competent authorities to carry out a quick and efficient investigation of this senseless act,” he added.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as the gunman opened fire.
“I was waiting for a tram when I saw right next to me this guy armed with a rifle firing at the embassy,” Igor Parac said. “People started running in all directions.”
Another eyewitness, Admir Hrenovica, told BHR1 TV the gun shots had lasted about 15 minutes.
“I first heard several bursts of gunfire and then single shots. People close to me threw themselves on the ground. It was total panic,” he said.
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