After Miloš (Salahudin) Žujović attacked the Israeli embassy in Belgrade by injuring a Gendarmerie officer with a crossbow, a largely forgotten topic re-entered the political and public discourse—Wahhabism, specifically the Wahhabi movement and the security implications it carries. Due to a series of terrorist attacks carried out by members of this radical movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in European capitals, security services have long focused on Wahhabi leaders, closely monitoring their activities and intentions. The media kept pace with this focus. Every new terrorist act brought the Wahhabi movement and its followers to the forefront. With the beginning of the Russian Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, Wahhabis and all they had done completely vanished from the political, security, and media landscape. Time inexorably consumes both people and events.
WHO IS FAITHFUL AND WHO IS FAITHLESS?
The connection between this organization and terrorism is significant. What is Wahhabism? It is an interpretation of Islam that is completely intolerant of the evolution of Islamic thought over fifteen centuries. This means that members of the Wahhabi movement do not recognize the practice of Islam brought to the Balkans by the Ottomans, nor any innovations in this world religion. The prayer (namaz) is performed differently, and “innovations” (such as shrines and tombstones) are entirely undesirable. Only the practices of the first three generations of Muslims, as Islam was presented by the Prophet Muhammad, are considered valid. The founder of Wahhabism is Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and the founder of the Saudi dynasty is Muhammad ibn Saud. Wahhabis played a significant role in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Wahhabism is the official state religion.
It is natural that Islam has multiple sects, just like Christianity. However, the security issue through which Wahhabism is observed is its intolerance towards a different approach to Islam and, generally, to faith. All those outside of Islam are considered infidels (kafir), and Wahhabis do not have a much better attitude towards their fellow believers who practice Islam differently, that is, who pray to Allah in a different way.
BRINGERS OF A NEW ISLAM
The conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Izetbegović’s call for help from “Arab brothers” resulted in an influx of Arab volunteers to Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading to the formation of the El Mujahid unit as part of the Seventh Muslim Brigade, which was, in turn, part of the Third Corps of the so-called Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another reason, no less significant, was the American intention to suppress the growing influence of Iran, which had become increasingly prominent during the war. Iranian military instructors, a growing quantity of weapons, and financial assistance were flowing into Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even the famous General Qasem Soleimani (who was assassinated in an American operation on January 3, 2020, in Baghdad) had arrived.
Thus, the presence of “holy warriors” was legitimized, and it is generally estimated that there were about 5,000 of them. Their military successes in the fight against the First Krajina Corps of the Army of the Republic of Srpska were negligible. The “warriors of jihad” will be remembered for the horrific crimes committed against captured Serbian soldiers in Vozuća near Zavidovići. For the ritual beheading of prisoners, often accompanied by dismemberment, none of the direct perpetrators has yet been held accountable. However, what Alija Izetbegović particularly emphasized about the Wahhabis was not of a military nature. They brought a new Islam, and we should adhere to it—this was Izetbegović’s message. Thus, Wahhabism received a strong boost.
THE ARRIVAL OF “GARIBS”
Problems between Arab settlers and the local population in Bosnia and Herzegovina began immediately upon the arrival of the newcomers, or “garibs,” as the residents of central Bosnia (where the Wahhabis were stationed) called them. The “Sharia police” was critical, and even very harsh, towards the way Muslim women dressed. On the other hand, Wahhabis were recognizable by their appearance (beard without a mustache and shortened pants). After the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, some Wahhabis left Bosnia and Herzegovina for other battlefields (Chechnya, Dagestan, Kosovo and Metohija), while others, through marriages with local women, acquired citizenship and stayed. However, Wahhabism also remained and developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Saudi Arabia financed the construction of magnificent mosques on land declared extraterritorial, that is, owned by Saudi Arabia. All this was done under the patronage of the state and with the favorable stance of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (IVZ BiH).
DISCIPLINING WITH TERRORISM
Like any ideology, Wahhabism spreads through preaching, or missionary work, for which, in addition to very well-attended lectures, the internet was also a suitable medium. Social networks, numerous websites, Facebook profiles, and forum groups were ideal tools for spreading this approach to Islam. Another method, aimed at punishing individuals and disciplining others, was terrorism. By no means can we say that Wahhabis were the first to come up with terrorism. Terrorism has always been a method used by individuals or organized groups to achieve political or ideological goals. They use violence and seek as much publicity as possible. Their targets are military and police facilities, but also civilians. Therefore, no one became a terrorist because it was a “life choice,” but because they wanted to contribute to the idea they responded to. And ideas are that powerful force, the strength that drives social processes and changes.
It is believed that the September 1997 attack in Mostar, where a car bomb was detonated, was the first terrorist act in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. At that time, 29 people were injured while passing through Split Street towards the police building. The bomb, containing 30 kilograms of TNT and MES, was planted in a vehicle. The investigation determined that this horrific attack was carried out by Ali Hamad, Ahmed Zuhair, Saleh Nidal, and Vlado Popovski, and two of the attackers had direct connections with Al-Qaeda. In the “Fis” shopping center in Vitez, in the hypermarket section, a bomb exploded in October 2008, killing security guard Zvonko Barbić (28). Eight people were injured. The Federal Police Administration declared this explosion a terrorist act. It later turned out that the bomb that caused the bloodshed had been left in a package. For that terrorist act, Suvad Đidić was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2011, accused of making the explosive device.
A SERIES OF TERRORIST ACTS
The period from 2010 to 2015 brought several terrorist acts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the worst terrorist attacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina occurred in June 2010 in Bugojno, when a group of radical Islamists blew up the Police Station. The explosive device was placed on the wall of the Bugojno Police Administration. Policeman Tarik Ljubuškić was killed, and six people were injured. The perpetrators of this attack were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, with Haris Čaušević, known as Oks, considered the main organizer. Sarajevo was shaken by a terrorist act in October 2011 when Mevlid Jašarević fired at the US Embassy, wounding one policeman. The agony in front of the American embassy lasted for 45 minutes, and the attacker was subdued by police action when he was shot in the leg. Jašarević, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison, was a member of the Wahhabi movement, and the investigation confirmed that he had visited the well-known Wahhabi stronghold in Gornja Maoča, near Brčko, several times.
NOT EVERY WAHHABI IS A TERRORIST, BUT EVERY TERRORIST IS A WAHHABI
In April 2015, Nermin Ibrić stormed the Police Station in Zvornik and killed Dragan Đurić, a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska, and wounded his colleagues Željko Gajić and Stevo Milovanović. The attacker was killed in a firefight, and the attack was characterized as a shot at the Republic of Srpska and a terrorist act. The investigation also showed that Ibrić had been associating with members of the Wahhabi movement several months before the attack. The latest in a series of terrorist attacks occurred in November 2015 in Rajlovac, Sarajevo, when Enes Omeragić, close to the Wahhabi movement, killed members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Armin Salkić and Nedeljko Radić. The attacker then blew himself up with a bomb after the siege of his house, which was carried out by security forces. Enes Omeragić had previously spent some time on the battlefield in Syria.
Thus, the thought of Jasmin Merdan, one of the authors of the book Wahhabism/Salafism and the founder of the NGO Zapret – Center for the Prevention of Terrorism, became unavoidable in the discourse on the Wahhabi movement: “Not every Wahhabi is a terrorist, but every terrorist is a Wahhabi.” This is the key problem with Wahhabis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, a series of terrorist attacks was a wake-up call for everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina: police structures, religious organizations, public services, the education system, and the media. The Islamic Religious Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina also responded, and very strongly.
IN THE CONTEXT OF SYRIA
Over time, the Wahhabi movement strengthened to the extent that the Wahhabi organization became a competitor and an open threat to the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, prompting Reis Kavazović to publicly call on state institutions to respond to the emergence of 44 para-jamaats over which the IVZ BiH had no authority. The basis for the Wahhabi evolution was that a number of young people obtained education and defended doctorates in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other Islamic countries, and new leaders, using new technologies, primarily social networks, gained followers faster than the official representatives of the IVZ BiH.
It is necessary to observe the wave of terrorist attacks that had engulfed Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of global events, specifically the war in Syria. Several terrorist attacks on European soil, primarily the attacks in Paris on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan theater, were alarms that the so-called Islamic State must be dealt with by progressive forces. It was eventually subdued thanks to the intervention of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which were the main ally of Syria’s regular military units, i.e., Bashar al-Assad. Unlike the attacks on European capitals, which should also be viewed as intelligence operations by Western security services, the terrorist attacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina were echoes of those operations, with local fanatics thinking they were supporting the “general cause.”
ALTRUISTS IN THE PARAJAMAAT
Investigations conducted into the attacks on the US embassy, police stations in Bugojno and Zvornik, and members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not uncover a broader background, that is, financiers, instigators, and organizers. This terrorism was a “domestic product.” At the same time, it is worth noting that Wahhabi enclaves, or “parajamaats,” played a significant role in the departure of Bosnian youths to the Syrian battlefield in terms of preparation, providing instructions, and offering moral and financial support. A lenient penal policy was applied to returnees (some of whom were killed fighting against Syria’s regular military forces, while some are still in the Idlib area under the command of Nusret Imamović), even though they fought on the side of the most notorious terrorist organizations, which Al-Qaeda and the infamous Islamic State certainly are.
When it came time for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina to “settle accounts” with the Wahhabi movement, things were resolved so that, with government support, parajamaats were registered as non-governmental organizations. These organizations were given premises by many local communities, and financial assistance was transferred to their bank accounts. They focused their work on ideological strengthening, lectures, and aiding vulnerable social categories. Thus, Wahhabis in Bosnia and Herzegovina became humanitarians. What does not inspire confidence is that the leaders of this movement were fighters from the notorious El Mujahid unit.
WITHOUT PROVOCATIONS
After the attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Wahhabis once again entered the media discourse in Serbia. Discussions about this movement and the terrorist threat were reopened. However, Wahhabi leaders, through social networks, primarily Telegram and partly Viber, sent messages to their followers advising them not to fall for provocations, that is, that under no circumstances should a terrorist act occur in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reason is clear: an attack on any Jewish religious site would once again draw the state’s attention to them, which would cause problems and hinder their ideological work. So, what is the threat posed by the Wahhabi movement today? They would be the first brigade to be mobilized against the Republic of Srpska. In this sense, they are convenient for both the government and the opposition in political Sarajevo. The Wahhabi organization would be the spearhead in a new conflict against the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina—if it ever comes to that.
