The 2007 Baku terrorist plot was a foiled

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

plot aimed at several targets in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. The resulting security measures prompted the closure of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and British embassies. Some institutions such as Norwegian

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state owned enterprise, state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with ad ...

and American McDermott oil companies limited their activity. On October 29, 2007 Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies reported that they had detained a group of

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

s armed with

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

s who were preparing an attack near the United States and British embassies. According to the National Security Ministry spokesman it was discovered that the group had four Kalashnikov assault rifles, one Kalashnikov grenade launcher, 20

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s, ammunition and

automatic weapon An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharge ...

parts. The group was also reported to have planned to attack a number of state buildings and representatives of private companies.

Background

On October 25, 2007, the

Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan () or MN is an Azerbaijani government agency that is associated with the Azerbaijani military. The ministry is responsible for keeping Azerbaijan defended against external threats, preservin ...

reported that one of the army officers had deserted his regiment, taking four Kalashnikov assault rifles and a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

from a military base. The Ministry of National Security has claimed that the officer was a follower of Salafism and the stolen arms were going to be used in terror attacks. 1st Lt. Kamran Asadov was alleged to have taken four machine guns, a mortar and 20 grenades from his military unit and hidden them in the city for a militant attack. According to report of Azerbaijani Ministry of Public Relations Department on 6 November, Abu Jafar,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

by nationality, affiliated with

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

and Al-Jihad, and others came to Azerbaijan and established an armed group from the persons who formerly participated in the illegal military units in different conflict zones. During the joint measures of the law-enforcement bodies on 26 September in Qusar rayon, one of the group's members, resident of Qusar rayon, Telman Abdullayev (b. 1975) put up armed resistance, wounding two policemen with a fire-arm and managed to escape from the place of incident. In addition, other members of the group, Vidadi Kerimov, Adil Jaraykhanov, Vitali Agamammadov, Asaf Nazarov and Danial Abuyev, were detained. It was discovered that the group was plotting to help Abu Jafar to escape Azerbaijan. The apartment in

Sumgayit Sumgait (; az, Sumqayıt, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, about away from the capital Baku. The city has a population of around 345,300, making it the second largest city in Azerbaijan after Bak ...

, where Abu Jafar was hidden, was taken under control. On October 10, during an operation in the apartment Abdul Malik and Elchin Alimirzayev a.k.a. Haji were arrested but Abu Jafar fired at officers and managed to escape.

Operation

As a result of special operations, conducted on 2–3 November, Abu Jafar and other members of the group, Mirza Babayev, Gadir Hajiyev, Vugar Aliyev, Emin Cami, Logman Muradov, Habil Masmaliyev and Parviz Karimov, were detained. Due to the witty measures of the National Security Ministry's "Gartal" ("Eagle") special team, Abu Jafar was detained without damage. 1

AKMS The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduced ...

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

, 3

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

s, 1

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

, 12 hand grenades, 11 special lighters, 1.075 grams of explosives, 4-meter long

Bickford Bickford is a village in Staffordshire, England. For population details taken at the 2011 census see Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of ...

fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...

, 91

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

s, 4 pistol magazines, 4 submachine gun magazines, 25

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

s, about 600 cartridges, 3 special lanterns, 2

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

es, 1 signal firework unit, 1 electricity conducting device, maps and other supplies were discovered. Proceedings were instituted under articles 279.2, 315.2 and 228.2.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

Sentencing

On June 18, 2009 the Serious Crime Court sentenced Kamran Asadov, Bahtiar Orujov, Farid Jabbarov, Kamran Babayev and Samir Mehraliyev to a 15-year imprisonment. The court also sentenced other members of the group; *Elshan Mammadov, Vugar Aliyev and Ilkin Ismailov to 14 years *Tarlan Karimov - 13 years *Yashar Maharramov and Rovshan Abdulaliyev to 12 years and 6 months *Ramil Karimov and Samir Aliyev to 12 years *Ramin Jalilov - 11 years *Orkhan Alizadeh - 10 years and 6 months *Shirvani Babayev and Azerbaijani Ibadov - 10 years *Edgar Aliyev - 6 years and 6 months *Hajibala Huseynov - 6 years and three months *Shahriyar Maharramov - 2 years The court adopted a resolution and sent a notification to the Defense Ministry to annul a lieutenant rank from Asadov.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Baku Terrorist Plot

2000s in Baku Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2007 Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2007