The Macedonian police have arrested eight people suspected of conspiring terrorist plots and of links to ISIS.
Five of the suspected were arrested in Kumanovo on Sunday, three in capital Skopje, following arrest warrants issued by a judge, the police announced on Monday.
They are part of an organization created by another person who was previously arrested this summer with two other suspects.
The suspects relied “ on the ideological matrix of the terrorist organization ISIS, for committing murders and destroying public buildings with the intention of creating a feeling of insecurity or fear among the citizens,” the police stated.
The statement added that the suspects trained, secured weapons and financial resources, and made explosives for the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts in the country.
Police stated that they were able to track their WhatsApp chat, where they talked about how to transport weapons and how to make suicide belts.
One of the arrested suspects had fought in Syria as part of ISIS militia, they added.
Authorities maintain that the latest arrests are linked to a quantity of weapons and explosives found in Kumanovo in the end of August, for which police arrested three people.
