Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Alizadeh / The Azerbaijani public should fight against those who use religion for some other purposes, Fuad Alaskarov, head of the Department of the Azerbaijani President Administration, said on 20 November.
Masked robbers attacked a Lukoil filling station located on Heydar Aliyev avenue in the Nizami District of Baku on the evening of 31 October. According to Office 23 of the Nizami District Police, the thieves seriously injured a worker at the station and stole a large sum of money. The suspects have not been identified yet, however the police are investigating the incident and search operations are being carried out to capture them.
A criminal case has been filed for contravening Articles 181 (robbery) and 228 (illegal possession of a weapon) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The robbers stole AZN 2,800. Lieutenant Kamran Asadov, an officer from military division N of the Defence Ministry, acting in a criminal conspiracy with other members of a radical Vahabists group, deserted his military unit and took with him four submachine guns, one machine gun and 20 grenades, along with shells and other military equipment. Law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan have established that the radical religious group intended to commit terror acts in strategic buildings, including diplomatic facilities.
The officials of the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry reinforces security measures after spreading of the information about the planning terrorist acts directed against the foreign embassies in Azerbaijan. The operation measures by the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry revealed that Asadov was the member of Vahabists religious group. The criminal hided part of guns in the Ismayilli region of Azerbaijan. The armed group was detained in 104, Sadova Ave, Mashtaga village Baku, on 27 October. One of the criminals was murdered during the operation.
During the research measures the other members of the group were detained, So, Vugar Aliyev, the resident of Khirdalan region, and Elshan Mammadov, the resident of Baku, were detained. Aliyev and Mammadov spoke about the plans of the group in their evidences. They planned to implement terror acts in a range of foreign embassies in Azerbaijan, including the United States's embassy in Azerbaijan. During the questioning Asadov and Jabbarov said that Bakhtiyyar Orujov also took part in attack on Lukoil. Azerbaijan should reinforce measures against the religious tendencies in the country, Alaskarov said. The Government holds special operations to reveal different religious groups which abuse religion. The foreign forces have no connection with events occurred in the country. "We have not an information approving connection of religious groups functioning in Azerbaijan with foreign religious groups. All Azerbaijani law enforcement structures reinforce measures to prevent any possible attempts by Vahabists to commit crimes, Alaskarov said.