Your trusted source

The officials of the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan detained 6 local people who, according to the agency, planned to commit acts of terrorism in the territory of the country, Caucasian Knot reports.

According to the article, in an anti-terrorism operation conducted by the agency Azerbaijani citizens Niyameddin Khalilov, Rufis Baimov, Rashad Hashimli, Ilgar Musayev, Anar Rzayev and Jeykhun Abdullayev were detained, the Ministry of National Security press service reports.

As the article has it, according to information of the investigation, those detained were members of a criminal gang that accounts for several crimes. They face criminal charges on the articles 28,214.2.1 (preparing an organized criminal group), 28,214.2.3 (terrorism) and 228.3 (illegal purchase, transfer, sale, storage, transporting or carrying firearms) of Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani information agency APA reports that a large amount of weapons and ammunition was discovered at the disposal of the group members who had tried ‘to create a Sharia state in Azerbaijan’ and commit acts of terrorism.

APA reports that according to the Ministry of National Security of the country, in November 2014 the above-mentioned persons, alongside with others, created an organized group and appointed an ‘emir’ for themselves pursuing an aim to violate the social and political stability, commit acts of sabotage and subversion and terrorist attacks, as well as ‘jihad’ on the territory of the country and intending to create a state ruled by Sharia law in Azerbaijan. They acquired a large amount of weapons and ammunition from a source which is being identified by the investigation, as well as shared duties inside the group.

Besides, according to the agency, a trial has commenced at Baku Court of Grave Crimes in criminal case against Azerbaijani citizen Elkhan Mustafayev who is suspected of taking part in fights in Syria. As the article has it, after getting education, the Azerbaijani took part in the fights in illegal armed forces on the territory of Syria established by Syrian and Azerbaijani legislation.

At the same Baku Court of Grave Crimes, according to the agency, legal proceedings finished which had been initiated on criminal case related to the armed incident between the members of radical currents Khawarij and Salafi on 11 December 2013 in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait.  

According to the article, at the proceedings a verdict was brought in sentencing three of the defendants to 9 years in jail, six of them to 8 years, and four of them to 7 years. The agency reminds that the incident took place at teahouse Soltan in the 10th microdistrict of town Sumgait. The row, which had begun between the two radical groupings as a result of the divergences of religious views, turned into an armed incident.

The agency highlights that the Khawarij emir Elchin Akberov nicknamed “Mamed” and Salafi leader Elshan Musayev nicknamed “Hamza” were among those detained.

Note that Azerbaijani Salafis or Wahhabis are fighting in the ranks of various terrorist groupings that operate in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the Azerbaijani news agency Vesti.az, the total number of Azerbaijani terrorists in these countries equals 300. Whereas, according to FaktHeber Azerbaijani portal, over the past three years only in Syria almost 200 Azerbaijani terrorists were killed.

The relationship between international terrorist groups and Azerbaijan originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation, the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev, attracted to the war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar), Turkey ("Grey Wolves", etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement of thousands of foreign mercenaries and terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia. However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis, who then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where participated in the battles against the forces of the international coalition and Russian organizations. In recent years, the citizens of Azerbaijan are actively involved in terrorist and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan and Syria.