KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – An armed Afghan gang operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been kidnapping asylum seekers and demanding ransom from their families, an investigation by Balkan Insight reveals.
The gang, known as BWK, uses violent tactics including physical abuse and threats. They send distressing videos to victims’ families, demanding payment for their release, according to the investigation released on Wednesday.
Bosnian authorities quoted in the investigation say the gang primarily target individuals they believe come from wealthier families.
“They capture them, physically abuse them, tie them up, threaten them, blackmail them, and force them to provide a contact phone number to reach their families. They inform them that they must pay the ransom or risk harm to the victim,” said Adnan Beganovic, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry in Bosnia’s Una-Sana Canton.
According to Beganovic, the gang demands as much as €6,000 per person, with payments typically made into bank accounts in Turkey, as well as in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
“It is a very well-established system,” Beganovic said, adding that police discovered approximately €70,000 in a single bank account linked to the group.
The report includes an interview with a 36-year-old Pakistani migrant, identified as Bilal, who was kidnapped by the gang in the northwestern Bosnian town of Velika Kladuša.
“A group of men with headscarves and a gun stopped us. They caught and detained us. I spent eight days abducted,” Bilal said.
He described being beaten and deprived of food for two days before his family paid a €3,500 ransom for his release.
The report also reveals disturbing details about sexual abuse, with human traffickers and police officials confirming that members of Afghan gangs have sexually assaulted some victims, including women, children, and young men.
The investigation indicates that kidnappings, robberies, and extortion by groups like BWK have increased in the region in recent years, following the tightening of European Union border controls, which has resulted in a decrease in migrant smuggling into the EU.
