North Macedonia arrests eight suspected of terrorism

North Macedonian police on Monday arrested eight people suspected of links with the Islamic State terrorist group, the Interior Ministry in Skopje said.

The eight were arrested in Skopje and Kumanovo following an investigation lasting several months, the ministry added in a statement.

The arrests come less than two months after a radicalised Islamist of Macedonian and Albanian origin carried out a deadly terrorist attack in Vienna.

Raids in several locations in North Macedonia uncovered weapons, ammunition and explosive devices for planned attacks seeking to create "uncertainty and fear among citizens," the ministry said. The plans, shared by the group in an online chat, were said to include blueprints for the manufacture of explosive-lined vests for suicide bombings.

One of the suspects had allegedly fought for Islamic State in Syria. North Macedonia has a large, mostly Muslim ethnic Albanian community and radical Islamists have been active in the country, as well as elsewhere in the region.

North Macedonian police uncovered an alleged Islamic State cell in September. The latest suspects allegedly have links to that first group.

On 2 November, an Austrian-born man of Macedonian-Albanian descent carried out a terrorist attack in Vienna, killing four and wounding more than 20 people, before being shot dead by police.

After the attack, Austria asked North Macedonian authorities to cooperate in the investigation, as the killer held both Austrian and North Macedonian passports. The Interior Ministry in Skopje immediately said it was responding to the request. (dpa)