Kosovo Says 110, Including Four IS Fighters, Repatriated From Syria

Kosovo police chief Rashit Qalaj told a news conference in Pristina on April 20 that 32 women and 74 children, including nine who lost their parents in the conflict in Syria, were among the returnees, all of whom are now being held in a detention center for foreigners. Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri said the authorities had worked for months to secure the return of the 110 Kosovo citizens from Syria, adding that the operation was carried out in coordination with the United States. Since 2012, some 400 citizens of Muslim-majority Kosovo have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight on the side of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.