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An arson attack last month on a synagogue in North Macedonia’s capital has been linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, the country’s intelligence service said on Friday.
Nobody was injured in the 12 April attack, which is the Orthodox Easter, but an entrance of the building in Skopje was left scorched after it was set on fire.
The Agency for National Security said they had raided several properties and arrested seven people believed to be a “part of a radical group ideologically linked to the global network of the Islamic State.”
Police said following the arrests on Thursday, they had charged a 21-year-old and a 38-year-old with terrorism related offences.
“The individuals have been held for further proceedings,” police spokesperson Goce Andreevski said in a video statement.
Surveillance footage shared by the Israeli embassy, purportedly of the incident, shows two men in motorcycle helmets jumping a fence before pouring fuel outside of the building and setting the front courtyard ablaze.
In a statement after the fire, the local Jewish community said the building had only suffered minor damage.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked North Macedonia’s authorities for the arrests.
“Their swift and determined action to hold the perpetrators accountable underscores North Macedonia’s commitment to safeguarding the Jewish community,” Sa’ar wrote on X.
IS has a profoundly hostile opposition toward Jews and while the group has rarely directly confronted Jewish communities in the Middle East, its ideology frames Judaism as the primary enemy of Islam.
The group has frequently called for attacks on Jews and Jewish sites worldwide.
Additional sources • AFP
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