details added (first version posted at 16:46)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26
Trend:
Four members of the gang, which operated under the guise of religion, were killed as a result of the special operation carried out by the Azerbaijani law enforcement representatives in Nardaran settlement, a joint statement made by the Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan says.
Nardaran settlement is located 25 kilometers from Baku.
Two police officers were also killed as a result of this operation.
Some 14 members of the gang, headed by their leader Taleh Bagirov, were detained.
"The interior ministry was informed about the armed criminal gang, operating under the guise of religion and planning to break the social and political stability, commit diversions, mass clashes, terrorist attacks in the country," the statement said.
"This information was confirmed by the investigative bodies," the statement said. "This made it necessary to take immediate actions."
It was found that Taleh Bagirov, Elmar Agayev, Zulfuqar Mikayilov and Abulfaz Bunyadov created the Muslim Unity movement to forcibly change the constitutional order of the country and create a religious country governed by Sharia law.
Taking all this into account, the interior ministry held a special operation in Baku's Nardaran settlement Nov.26 to arrest these people.
During the operation, the members of the criminal gang opened fire from an automatic weapon, put up armed resistance to the police officers and threw a hand grenade. In response to the continuous firing by the attackers, the special operation group used service weapons and killed four members of the criminal gang, while several people got injured.
Despite an increase in the number of supporters of the gang, the police officers fulfilled their duty. Two police officers heroically died.
A lot of automatic weapons, cold steel and others were seized at the scene as the physical evidence.
Some 14 members of the criminal gang headed by Taleh Bagirov were detained and handed over to the investigative bodies.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case. The investigation is underway.