Kosovo man charged with joining Jabhat Al-Nusra extremist group in Syria

Prosecutors brought terror charges Friday against an ethnic Albanian man from Kosovo who allegedly joined an extremist group in Syria and brought his family there.

A statement from the prosecutor’s office in Kosovo said the suspect, identified only as N. L., joined the Jabhat Al-Nusra group along with his son. Authorities allege he trained as a fighter and participated in attacks in Syria.

The statement said the man returned to Kosovo in April 2013 to bring to his wife, two daughters and a daughter-in-law to Syria. He allegedly rejoined his son and the Al-Nusra group and was eventually handed over to Syrian forces and repatriated to Kosovo, according to the statement, which did not give the whereabouts of his relatives.

If convicted, the man faces up to 10 years in prison.

Al-Nusra was made the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria in April 2013, though revealed it was splitting with that organisation in 2016. Then, in 2017, it combined with four fellow extremist movements to form Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.

Authorities say that fewer than 90 Kosovo citizens remain in Syria, most of them the widows of former fighters.

Kosovo repatriated 110 of its citizens, mostly women and children, from Syria two years ago. Many of the adults have been charged with terrorism-related offensives and are serving prison sentences.

More than 400 people from Kosovo are thought to have joined extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.