BUDIMIR: BiH IS HIGH TERRORISM RISK COUNTRY

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 27 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Minister of Interior Željko Budimir warns that BiH is a high-risk country when it comes to terrorism threat, as more than 100 individuals who had been in the Islamic State are returning to it.

"This indicates that we will be facing people who have combat experience and certain tactical skills that could be used in the future for something similar," Budimir told the press in Banja Luka.

He expressed hope that this would not happen and noted that cooperation with all police agencies in BiH is at a high level.

Ahead of a lecture for students of the Secondary School of Internal Affairs and cadets of the Police Academy marking the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the police station in Zvornik, Budimir emphasized that the most important elements in preventing terrorism are understanding it and conducting operational work on the ground.

He noted that continuous work on this issue is carried out with cadets at the Police Academy, students at the Secondary School of Internal Affairs, and students at the Faculty of Security Sciences.

"Once we deploy the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, we can say that we have failed and that we are using the last resort in combating terrorism," Budimir said.

He pointed out that terrorism in the 21st century brings new challenges and new forms of organisation.

"As the nature of warfare changes, with the use of social networks and the internet as specific means of communication and data exchange, as well as artificial intelligence, the nature of terrorism and terrorist attacks is also changing," Budimir said.

Republika Srpska police officer Dragan Đurić was killed on April 27, 2015, in a terrorist attack on the police station in Zvornik by an Islamist.

The attacker was identified as Nerdin Ibrić /24/, an Islamist extremist from the village of Sapna near Zvornik.

In that terrorist attack, police officers Željko Gajić and Stevo Milovanović were injured.