"Is Kosovo Becoming A Hotbed Of Islamic Extremism?" Topic

"A plume of smoke hangs over our table in the corner of a dark, shabby café in this rugged town in southern Kosovo. The lanky 19-year-old sitting next to me is chain-smoking through half a pack of L&Ms, his hands trembling as he recalls how he joined one of the world's most brutal militant Islamist groups.

Through his neatly trimmed beard, Adem, who asks me not to use his real name for fear of arrest, says he had never even left Kosovo. But two years ago, he found himself on the perilous and far-off Turkey-Syria border -- a major entry point for foreigners seeking to join the ranks of Islamic State (IS).

He was taken by IS recruiters to a Turkish village, where he waited to be smuggled into a war zone. After a two-week training camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Syrian and Iraqi territory that the group calls its "caliphate," he would be assigned to a fighting unit.

Hours before the recruiters were to sneak him across the border, however, Adem turned back and made his way home…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Reconversion?
Kalashnikov or and young girls markets going down maybe?

Has been since at least the 1990s, and centuries before, from what I've read.

Are not the Saudis spending some petro-dollars on Kosovo as it has a largely moslem populous ?

Daesh is Sunni as are the Saudis … but I don't know there is a much of a tie. I doubt it … But who knows ?

And Adem is kind of a moron and needs professional help. Anyone who would join Daesh or AQ are just not right in the head. IMO of course … He's lucky they just didn't shot him outright when he changed his mind. If they had found out …

Some observers in the late 90s warned that breaking Serbia's hold on Kosovo could lead to this.

There were no "good" sides in the Kosovo War.
I wouldn't want a Serbian boot on my neck.

Both sides routinely committed attrocities on the other.

However, historically, the Kosovar Albanians used to be quite secular, at least until the Serbs started committing war crimes against the population. This was ignored by the West until the moslem world responded. The US and NATO was finally embarrassed into responding after mujaheddin started showing up to fight for the Albanians.

When radicals are the only ones to help, the populace becomes radicalized.

All very true … The Muj are not known for generally being "moderates". And with all the atrocities that were committed by all the denizens there. The may explain why NATO, etc. is still deployed in the region. I know the US still has troops there and it does not look like they are being withdrawn anytime soon.