GALIJAŠEVIĆ: AIRSOFT IS PART OF OVERALL NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR PREPARING FOR ARMED CONFLICTS

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 14 /SRNA/ - Counter terrorism expert Dževad Galijašević warned that airsoft clubs are part of an overall strategy to provoke and prepare for armed conflicts, and that security agencies in BiH are aware of this threat but are not reacting.

Commenting on the European Commission's report stating that martial arts clubs and airsoft clubs connected to Islamic extremism pose a particular security problem for BiH, Galijašević stressed that the assessment is entirely objective, as this is indeed military training. Galijašević told SRNA that in BiH, airsoft provides an opportunity for military training that is carried out mainly in Wahhabi-influenced settlements, while on the other hand, these groups also find a certain form of integration with the "second column" of Sarajevo's politics. "We have two columns moving in the same direction, regardless of the fact that one column is Islamist, meaning led by the SDA, and the other is the former Titoist, so-called civic one, led by the SDP. They stand together on all these issues where support is given to radical groups, where participation in various forms of military training takes place, not only in these airsoft clubs," he explained. Galijašević stated that this is a range of training they conduct across BiH, even within the Armed Forces of BiH, and then claim these are sports activities. He emphasized that this involves preparations that are being carried out continuously in hundreds of Wahhabi settlements, and in which the so-called social-democratic political bloc is now also taking part. "You will see, in their joint participation in these clubs, although they are mostly led by Wahhabis, faces that are clean-shaven and whose appearance suggests they belong to a different kind of identity," Galijašević noted. He added that what unites and motivates them to conduct these types of military training is their preparation for an armed conflict with Serbs and Croats. Galijašević said that the security agencies should have been the first to identify this at the joint level, both in terms of recognizing the threat and determining how to respond to the terrorist danger and to Wahhabi settlements. According to him, the fact is that they have now essentially found a platform they present as a sport, saying these are sporting activities, while at the same time displaying certain types of activities involving the use of firearms during hunting. Galijašević assessed that the country's internal security is seriously threatened by terrorists and that airsoft is part of a broader national strategy for preparing for armed conflicts, incidents, and the paralysis of institutions. "The authorities in Sarajevo are paralyzing institutions so that they are incapable of responding to these kinds of challenges, presenting various fake sports activities which are, in fact, pure, classic combat training," Galijašević said. He added that airsoft is merely a manifestation of the radical extremist mindset and organizational structure of the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand, and Wahhabi teaching and practice on the other. Večernji List, the BiH edition, reported yesterday, citing the European Commission's report, that martial arts clubs and airsoft clubs linked to Islamic extremism, and often run by radicalized individuals, represent a particular security problem for BiH.