Azerbaijan foils terror plot to attack foreign embassy, arrests suspects Photo/Video

A suspected terror plot against an embassy of a foreign country in Baku has been foiled by authorities and three citizens accused of planning the terrorist attack were arrested, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (SSS) announced on January 27.

According to the SSS, the suspects were detained during an operation after investigators developed reasonable suspicions that the individuals were preparing a terror attack motivated by religious hostility, Caliber.Az reports. 

“During operational-investigative measures, it was established that the suspects were preparing to carry out a terrorist attack against the embassy of a foreign state in the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the SSS press service said in a statement.

The detained individuals were identified as Ilgar Guliyev, born in 2000, Amin Piriyev, born in 2005, and Elvin Alizadeh, also born in 2005. The SSS said the men used aliases including “Abu Zar al-Muhajir,” “Abdurashid,” and “Abdurrahman al-Azeri.”

“The aforementioned individuals entered into criminal relations with members of the ISIS terrorist organization's ‘Vilayati-Khorasan’ armed group, and as a group of conspiring individuals, obtained items used as weapons to carry out a terrorist attack on the embassy of a foreign state in the Republic of Azerbaijan and were detained by the employees of the SSS while approaching the area where the embassy was located,” the statement added. 

The three men have been charged under multiple articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code related to the preparation of terrorism, including terrorism committed by a group, on the basis of religious hostility, and involving the use of weapons. A court has ordered their pretrial detention.

The SSS said investigative and operational measures in the case are ongoing.

By Sabina Mammadli