Bosnia arrests four Afghans over alleged kidnapping

Four Afghan nationals have been arrested in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, and charged with kidnapping three other foreigners and holding them for ransom.

Officials with the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said Thursday that the kidnappers demanded 18,000 euros (US$19,556) in ransom for the victims, who were from Iran and Switzerland, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported.

The investigators did not release the names, gender or immigration status of either victims or suspects.

The alleged kidnappers are suspected of engaging in organized crime, forming a group or association to commit criminal offenses related to migrant smuggling, human smuggling, and kidnapping, according to SIPA.

“This organized group of kidnappers subjected the abducted individuals to torture and physical abuse, resulting in severe injuries. One person required hospital treatment as a result of the ordeal,” SIPA said in a statement.

It was also reported that the abducted individuals were released upon payment of the ransom at an undisclosed location outside Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One of the detained suspects may have connections to the murder of a migrant, who was fatally stabbed in the temporary reception center for migrants in the country’s west on Dec. 31 last year, SIPA said.

Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina collaborated with the police forces of Serbia and Switzerland, along with the country’s intelligence and the country units of Europol and Interpol.

According to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, almost 35,000 migrants entered the Balkan country in 2023 via the Balkan route, a major migratory pathway into Europe.