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Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network

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Still today, although slightly less, the crucial importance of Bosnia for Al-Qaida's Jihad in and against the West is underestimated. How was it possible that the holy warriors, after having fought for many years in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, were able to establish save havens in Bosnia and spread terrorist cells throughout Europe, Canada and the United States?

This book offers a detailed approach to the genesis of Al-Qaida (above all in Europe) and enumerates a number of components that enabled it to spread globally. Starting with the holy war in Afghanistan and its infrastructure and fighters, the focus gradually moves to Bosnia (its Civil War) and, later on, to a global scale.

The book features various illustrations, extensive coverage of many individual destinies of the "mujahideen", references to a great variety of sources and is written in a very appealing way. Furthermore, it sheds light on the doubtful rôle of Alija Izetbegovic, on flawed Western intelligence, on the consequences of the hesitant intervention of the International Community, on the crucial impact of so-called Islamic "Charities" and finally offers lessons of the "Afghano-Bosniaks".

At the beginning, you might have to get used to the particular fashion of the book, however, after a few pages you will enjoy a very good read. To conclude, a few pieces of advice in order to get the most out of the book: have a map of Ex-Yugoslavia (especially Bosnia) within reach, write down the most important Arabic expressions you encounter with the corresponding translation and make a list of the most important Arabic names, as some are difficult to remember and prone to confusion.



Addendum:

In the first place, this book has no extensive historical pretensions - therefore, there is no need to enter into the historic details of Bosnia. Still, the more secular approach to Islam of the Bosnians appears clearly in the book (vid. their conflicts with the mujahideen, their different eating/drinking habits, etc.)

Rather, the book is aimed at showing how it was possible for Al-Qaeda to set its feet on European soil and to develop further activities, using Bosnia as a (temporal) safe haven.

The book is simply focused on exactly that phenomenon and does not have to deal neither with Christian fundamentalism nor the atrocities committed by the regular and irregular Serb armed forces during the civil war (which I am sure are denounced by Mr. Kohlmann). There is plenty of books which provide a more general perspective on this war, however, that is not the point Mr. Kohlmann wanted to make writing his book.

This book is a pathbreaking piece of research into two underexplored aspects of contemporary terrorism. Author Evan F. Kohlmann outlines the trajectories of Arab-Afghan veterans of the anti-Soviet jihad and subsequent civil war in Afghanistan during the 1980s and early 1990s. He also looks to the origins and patterns of mujahedin activity during the 1992-1995 wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The result is a deeply disturbing illumination of late twentieth century Islamic militancy. Both troubled states attracted fighters from across the Greater Middle East and North Africa, and although many of the leading jihadists in wartime Bosnia made their reputations in the earlier Afghan conflict, Kohlmann portrays both states as roughly parallel forges of extremist sentiment. Al-Quaida's Jihad in Europe traces terrorist trajectories from the Peshawar-based Mujahedin Services Office, across the mountains of central and southwestern Bosnia, to London's infamous Finsbury Mosque and the metropoles of Western Europe and North America.

The weight of the book is on the Arab-Afghan migration to Bosnia-Herzegovina. As organized combatants, the contribution of mujahedin units to the Bosnian Muslim war effort was clear: their fearlessness under fire, and their consequent impact on military goals, was undisputed. Their lack of discipline and total disregard for the laws of war, on the other hand, were a liability to the government of Alija Izetbegovic. As religious colonizers, their promotion of conservative Islam also conflicted with the laissez-faire attitudes of Bosnian Muslims. Kohlmann addresses this ambiguity quite adroitly, exploring official reluctance to deal with the post-war settlement of foreign fighters who shed blood in defence of their admittedly obscure Bosnian Muslim brethren. Between 1995 and 2001, these contentious remnants of war became regional outposts for transnational terrorist networks. Numerous post-war terrorist incidents have been traced back to the Afghan-Bosnians, but intervention forces in the Western Balkans ensured that the security spotlight never wavered far. The Al Quaida attacks of 11 September 2001 precipitated a sudden shift in foreign policy attention to Bosnia, and in its own government's approach to domestic counter-terrorism. The country quickly became a second front in the war on terror, at a time when patience with the Balkan quagmire had worn thin.

Equal parts travelogue, journalistic exposé, think tank inquiry, and independent research, Kohlmann's work is part of a newly emerging strand of scholarship that explores some of the hidden micro-histories of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Such authors as Cees Wiebes, Marko Attila Hoare, and Charles R. Schraeder have touched on this uncomfortable aspect of the conflict. Kohlmann addresses the issue in unprecedented detail, exploiting a wide variety of available sources to piece together a largely neglected segment of contemporary Bosnian history. Extensive North American and European media coverage, declassified intelligence documents, and legal case files form the backbone of the study, but interviews with radical clerics, and excerpts from jihadist internet and video propaganda, provide critical insights into terrorist preferences, motives, and interests. Kohlmann offers no overarching theoretical arguments. The book, instead, is descriptive and empirically rich: the author's main accomplishment is to document the many terrorist incidents the Afghan-Bosnians perpetrated in wartime Bosnia, and post-war cases of terrorist activity rooted in their far-reaching network.

This book is also useful for the light it sheds on two related issues that have taken on striking policy relevance since the global war on terror began: the nature of terrorist sanctuaries, and counter-terrorist approaches to stamping them out. NATO's intervention in Bosnia after 1996, interestingly, is given the feel of an early denial-of-sanctuary operation, of the sort more commonly associated with post-9/11 Bush Administration counter-terrorist doctrine. For the professional mujahedin of Afghanistan and Bosnia, constantly in search of violent outlets for their religious convictions, sanctuary has clearly not been the same thing as safety. Many of them were committed jihadists before they ever fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and the Serbs and Croats in the Balkans. They remain a mobile diaspora whose members have been unable to return to their countries of origin, and the sanctuaries they sought out have been a mix of combat zones, staging areas, logistical bases, planning centers, transit points, and ideological enclaves. This reader, for one, anxiously awaits further scholarship on sanctuary in terrorist thought and practice. The one major failing of Kohlmann's study is the poor quality of its editing: the text is full of the sort of typographical errors that should have been picked up in a thorough copyedit. A work of this importance deserves better treatment by its publishers, and one hopes that a second printing will see a more polished product.

Michael A. Innes
book review in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, March 2005

This book is the most comprehensive analysis of the foreign Mujahideens role in Bosnia. Concerning Larissa 1 star review of this book: I find it hard to believe she even read the book enough to realize the authors intentions in his writings. She complains that Kohlmann does not see the whole picture of the Balkins and is under the impression that the author was trying to give an overview of the entirety of the Balkins and its culture. She says, "Kohlmann should perhaps confine himself to the details of the terrorist groups and avoid writing about areas such as the Balkins." That is exactly what Kohlmann did in this book and which was the purpose of this book: to write about the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign Muslims in general who came to Bosnia to fight, and Kohlmanns analysis of the after effects these elements had. Larissa's critique is irrelevent. If you want a book that explains the Balkins, its culture, with emphasis on Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia) then yes, one should look elsewhere. If you want a book that covers the element of Islamic radicalism, then this book does exactly that, and Kohlmann was not attempting to do more than that! Infact, Kohlmann does not even bother to give a brief summary of what the war was about and its probably wise that a reader should do some basic research on the war before starting this book, as this book was written with the intention that the reader already understands the basic macro topics.

As for Srebrenica review of the book, I doubt this person even read much of the book. Srebrenica claims Kohlmaan could not see the secular trend of Bosnian muslims as opposed to extremist ones, when the book covered this topic in-depth throughout the chapters, even stating that Al Qaida's failure to setup a perminent base in Bosnia, similar to Afghanistan, was the result of incompatibilities with secular Bosnian Muslims who love to drink alcohal! This was a major aspect of Kohlmann's thesis covering the post-war stance of the Mujahideens in Bosnia.

Ignore these 1-star reviews, as they really are irrelevant to the data in this book as well as Kohlmann's objective in writing this book. The book is not about the Balkins and its many ethnicities. It is about the role of Mujahideen in Bosnia and the compatibilities of Islamic radicalism and Bosnia's secular Islam. If the book tried to be anything else, it would go off topic. This book deserves attention for covering a such topics that are overlooked in the world of Islamic resistance. My only complaint is that it would have been nice if this book had a map in it.

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People who argue that "Bosnia's Muslims are secular" are only partly correct in that they *were* secular. The Bosnian war opened the doors of opportunity and hardline, radical Muslims came through the threshold. Most Muslims don't travel half way across the world to fight a war alongside Muslim "brothers" who don't even share a common language unless they are jihadists and make it their life's purpose to serve Allah by battling the kafirs wherever there is a need. These same individuals brought their jihadi skills to Bosnia and formed the El-Mujahedin Brigade. To the unskilled Bosnian Muslims, these were true jihad professionals. They offered to help train the locals in jihadi tactics but part of this training included lessons in "true Islam" because, as secular Muslims, they were practicing Islam "incorrectly." Long story short, many of these foreign fighters remained in Bosnia, married locals, started families, got jobs with NGOs who began paying locals and providing them with services the post-war Bosnian government could not provide, and, in doing so, have established a technique of indoctrination. Sarajevo is a very European-like city, but spend some time in front of the King Fahd mosque (established and owned by Saudi Arabia) and see the long bearded, fundamentally dressed men walking in and out for prayer and sermons. Go to Gornja Maoca, Jajce, Zenica, etc., and see the "secular" Bosnian women covered from head to toe as they would be in any other "non-secular" Islamic state. Then, read the various press articles to see how many of these "secular" types have been brought up on charges of various terrorist-acts. Secular Bosnia exists no more. The saddest thing is that this transformation happened right under the noses of the various western peacekeeping forces.
Read the book and enjoy it. Pay no heed to the 1-star reviewers who are obviously missing the point of the piece.

From the get go mr. Kohlmann is making cardinal mistakes starting from names of the places, and people (even ex Croat president for God's sake), to the flipping geographical positions of numerous places in the book. As someone who spent the entire war in Zenica, and who received help from one of the organizations mentioned in the book, and as someone who took part in their educational programs I'm deeply offended that there is person who is willing to put it in words (book) that my mother was forced (for the sake of survival) to send me as a 10 years old boy to "brain washing" classes. Educational classes were absolutely 100% optional and kids were attending them if they wanted to. There was no brainwashing and I have never witnessed any sorts of hate speech. With that being said, religious education of some sort was required but it could have been done in local elementary schools or masques as long as we had signed proof of attending such classes from teacher in school or from imam at the masque.

So mr. Kohlmann's writing in that particular instance is flat out incorrect and far from the truth as one could get. Taking in consideration mr. Kohlmann's background I was hopping to have a chance to read truly neutral outlook on foreign forces in Bosnia, but what I got was nowhere near that. This book can not be used as reliable source of any kind but rather as amusement reading.

This book is a waste of time and money - the research is significantly lacking and the connections proposterous.

I wouldn't recommend this book to any serious researcher. This is completely inaccurate picture of the agression on Bosnia.

Professor Kohlmann may have good facts on specific terrorists but he does not see the whole picture of the situation in the Balkans.

The region is known for having many languages, ethnic groups, and religions. To be sure there have been problems but the groups have co-existed for a very long time and that it is unlikely to change.

It is likely not to be doubted that there are alliances between the Afghani groups such as Al Qaida and others in Bosnia and elsewhere. But to assert this lacking the overall context, it is not useful.

Professor Kohlmann should perhaps confine himself to the details of the terrorist groups and avoid writing about areas such as the Balkans where he lacks the expertise to make incisive comments.

As just one example, he fails to grasp the role of the various Orthodox Christian groups in the region. Even though this would be a book of its own he should certainly make some mention as he establishes a theological backdrop by invoking the Islamic element.

First, allow me to state the obvious fact: Mr. Kohlmann seems completely oblivious to the long history of secularism in Bosnia, particularly among the Muslim population. For corroboration and a meticulous analysis of Islam in Bosnia, please see Noel Malcolm's masterpiece Bosnia. Furthermore, of all the Muslims in the world, Bosnian Muslims are irrefutably the most secularized ones. In point of fact, religion has always had a rather insignificant role in the social life of the Muslims in Bosnia. Given this incontrovertible fact, how can anyone even attempt to link the Muslims of Bosnia to the Muslims in Afghanistan?

Mr. Kohlmann claims in his book that Bosnian Muslims were collaborating with the Muslims from Afghanistan in a joint effort to unleash unprecedented terror throughout the Christian world. This assertion is so absurd that it warrants no serious comment. Kohlmann bases his argument on the fact that a small number of Mujahedeens arrived in Bosnia in 1992 in order to aid Bosnian Muslims in the war. While this is true, Kohlmann simultaneously fails to mention another equally important fact, namely that many Greeks and Russians also came to Bosnia in 1992 to help Bosnian Serbs. Pertinent to the context is also the fact that the Bosnian Serbs were heavily armed whereas the Bosnian Muslims were practically powerless and defenseless. Bosnian Serbs not only received reinforcements from the neighboring Serbia, recruits from all over the world, mainly from Russia and Greece, joined their Orthodox Christian brothers in a crusade against Islam. Mr. Kohlmann simply ignores this fact because after all in his mind the Muslims do not have the right to defend themselves even though he knows that the war in Bosnia was a clear and unequivocal case of Serbian aggression.

Paradoxically although unsurprisingly, one cannot find a single word in his book of the Orthodox Christian fundamentalism. Kohlmann also does not mention in his book that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic have been hiding in Serbia for almost 10 years now despite that they are wanted for war crimes by the War Tribunal in The Hague. These notorious war criminals guilty of egregious atrocities are considered heroes in Serbia; this does not bother Kohlmann at all, nor does the fact that the Serbs committed one of the worst massacres in Europe since World War II in Srebrenica killing approximately 8000 people. Why do not these abhorrent war crimes against the Muslims infuriate Mr. Kohlmann? Why is it Kohlmann that of the six hundred mosques in Bosnia, every single one was destroyed by the Serbs between the years 1992-1995? Conversely, if the Muslims of Bosnia are such fundamentalists as you so adamantly assert, why did almost every church remain intact following the war? Why is it that when you ask the Serb population of Srebrenica what they think about the massacre of 8000 Bosnian Muslims, they simply reply: "I do not care, that was a long time ago".

Thus, this book contains nothing but cunning and pernicious propaganda, the sole purpose of which is to promote hatred and vicious lies. If you want to make some money very fast, all you have to do is to write an anti-Islamic book. What is more, you do not even have to base it on facts, lies and distortions will do just fine. If you really want to learn the truth about Islam, then read books by intellectual writers such as Edward Said, John Esposito, Karen Armstrong and Bruce Lawrence.

I really hope that people will one day be able to judge others not by their race and religion but solely by the content of their character. Will that day ever come?