Albanian intelligence

The FBI headquarters in Washington DC. Photo: EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

Ardi Veliu, Albanian Police General Director, speaking during a ceremony in Tirana on 21 October 2019. Photo: LSA

Police General Director Ardi Veliu told journalists that they had identified the alleged terrorists from "sources inside the cell".

The unexpected visit of CIA director John Brennan to Tirana has prompted claims that  besides Islamic radicalism, concerns about Russian influence in Albania were also on the agenda.

Shpend Kursani, from the Kosovar Center for Security Studies, says large-scale terrorist attacks organized by groups like ISIS are unlikely to affect the Balkans over the coming holiday.

Fatos Klosi, the former director of the Albanian intelligence service, SHISH, has called for a case relating to threats allegedly sent to the country's General Prosecutor, Adriatik Llalla, to be handled by Albania's security institutions and for it not to become politicised.

Albanian media reported on Sunday that Daci, also known as Ebu Belkisa, who had been fighting alongside ISIS in the Middle East, has died.

Local media quoted his relatives as saying they had been informed by Daci's wife that the 33-year-old former imam from the village of Leshnica, in the Pogradec area of eastern Albania, was dead.

Tirana responds to twin terror bombings

Bomb blasts in the Albanian capital are being seen as an attempt to undermine the country's anti-crime agenda.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Tuesday's terror attacks have not shaken the government's commitment to fight crime. [AFP]