Gornja Maoča
Gornja Maoča | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Political division | Brčko District / Federation of BiH |
| Municipality | Brčko / Srebrenik |
| Government | |
| • Leader | Nusret Imamović |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | c. 100[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Gornja Maoča is a village in northeastern Bosnia that territorially belongs to the Brčko District, but administrativelly it belongs to the Srebrenik municipality, Tuzla Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is in the Majevica mountain range, located directly south from the village of Maoča. The name of the village can be translated as "Upper Maoča".
The village is known for being a centre of the foreign and domestic Wahhabists, a radical Muslim group, most of whom were former volunteers of the El Mudžahid detachment of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War.
Geography
Gornja Maoča is a mountainous village located in Majevica, a low mountain range in northeastern Bosnia.
History
The village was formerly known as Karavlasi (Serbian Cyrillic: Каравласи). During the Bosnian War, the village was ethnically cleansed from its pre-war Serb population. After the war it was populated by foreign and domestic Wahhabists,[citation needed] the majority of whom participated in the war as members of the El Mudžahid detachment of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Links to terrorism
It has been the focus of a lot of police and international attention, with several raids in which weapons caches have been found and suspected terrorists arrested. In early 2015, ISIS flags and symbols have briefly appeared in the village too.[2]
- Husein Bosnić "Bilal", a Bosnian Muslim cleric and unofficial leader of the Salafist movement in Bosnia, was arrested in September 2014 and is currently on trial for recruiting ISIS fighters.[3] In 2013 he called for a tax on non-Muslims, modeled after Ottoman practises.[4] In his various khutbas, he also advocated the "victory of Islam", promoting war and bloodshed. Moreover, in 2012 he called for other Muslims to join the Jihad and to defend Islam, for which he was briefly arrested and soon released.[5]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ Rathfelder & 2 February 2010.
- ^ "Inside the Bosnian mountain village where locals fly the black flag of ISIS above their homes as jihadists' influence spreads". Daily Mail.
- ^ "Middle East Updates / Bosnian imam on trial for recruiting ISIS fighters".
- ^ "Bosnian extremist wants to tax non-Muslims". B92.
- ^ Sladojević, Dragan (18 February 2014). "Vehabijski vođa Bosnić »zvecka« sabljama!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- News reports
- Rathfelder, Erich (2 February 2010). "Bosnien: Razzia in der Hochburg der Islamisten". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- Other sources
- Malic, Nebojsa (8 February 2010). "Spies, Lies, and Fear". Retrieved 28 March 2015.