Bosnia and Herzegovina's Security Ministry stated on Friday that "sudden and unforeseen circumstances" prevented the planned repatriation of nine Bosnian radicals who should have been flown from Iraq and Syria to Sarajevo on Saturday.

On November 29, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency approved the repatriation of a number of persons being held in detention camps under Kurdish control in Syria after the defeat of the terrorist organisation Islamic State.

Security Minister Dragan Mektic confirmed yesterday that the nine Bosnian citizens suspected of involvement in terrorist activities would be deported from Syria this weekend.

However, the ministry said today that the return of a group of Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens to Sarajevo, planned for Saturday, has been delayed for the time being “due to sudden and unforeseen circumstances in Syria”.

On the insistence of the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina has agreed to accept Bosnian citizens who have been captured as members of Islamic State or other terror groups such as the al-Nusra Front.

The repatriated terrorists are to be arrested as soon as they land in Sarajevo.