Some of the arrested individuals have also fought on the Taliban side in Afghanistan and Pakistan against the NATO troops. The arrested people were radical Islamists who were detained in a police operation called "Monster" Tuesday morning in several villages around Skopje, Xinhua quoted Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska as saying.

Police raided about 26 locations during the operation and seized a large amount of weapons as well as some Islamic literature. "The arrested are radical Islamists and some of them had fought on the Taliban side in Afghanistan and Pakistan against NATO troops. They will be charged on terrorism," the minister said.