1 policeman killed, 2 wounded in 'Islamist' attack in Bosnia

One policeman was killed and two others wounded Monday in the eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik when a man opened fire on a police station shouting "Allahu Akbar", officials said.

The gunman, identified as 24-year-old Nerdin Ibric from a nearby village, was also killed in the exchange of fire, police spokeswoman Aleksandra Simojlovic told reporters, calling it a "terrorist" attack.

"An armed person entered the police station of Zvornik around 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great). The attacker killed a police officer and wounded two others," Simojlovic said.

Zvornik is in the Serb-run part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska, whose president Milorad Dodik denounced this "terrorist attack... against the institutions."

"It is clear that motives behind this terrorist attack are religious and terrorist... It is certainly not an isolated act," Dodik told local television channel RTRS.

Police in Republika Srpska have stepped up security to the highest level, Interior Minister Dragan Lukac said.

"Everything indicates that he belonged to (ultra-conservative Islamist) Wahhabi movement. We have yet to verify whether this is an isolated act or if other people are involved," Lukac said.

The attack appears to be the first of its kind in Bosnia's Serb-controlled territory. Since the 1992-1995 war, Bosnia has been split into two entities -- the Serb-run Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, each with its own government.

"I fear this could be the beginning of much worse events in the whole of Bosnia," Lukac added.

Bosnia's Muslims make up 40 percent of the country's 3.8 million inhabitants and the vast majority practise a moderate form of Islam. However, Islamist extremists have made their presence felt before in the Balkan country.

In October 2011, an Islamist opened fire on the US embassy in Sarajevo, wounding a policeman before being injured himself and arrested.

In June 2010, an Islamist set off an explosive device at a police station in the central Bosnian town of Bugojno, killing one officer and wounding six others.

More recently, some 150 Bosnians are believed to have joined jihadists groups in Iraq and Syria, while some 50 others have returned to Bosnia, according to the intelligence services.