Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry has launched a large-scale operation in the country’s northwestern regions to seize members of a group that planned terror attacks in Baku, the local media reported referring to police sources. This comes after the ministry announced early last week that it had detained plotters who masterminded terror attacks on a school and a kindergarten in the capital.
Two militants have been arrested as a result of the operation. The detainees are residents of the Balakan district who are not named for the time being due to the ongoing investigation. The two were nabbed at a checkpoint while heading from Balakan toward the Zagatala district. The law enforcers managed to detain the militants despite their being armed.
Police sources said the district police have stepped up work due to the ongoing operation by security officers. Police officers with weapons stand guard at the Katekh checkpoint located between Balakan and Zagatala. Entry and exit to and from both regions is under control, and cars traveling in both directions are being inspected. Security operations are expected to take a few more days.
On Sunday, the National Security Ministry’s special troops reportedly began searching the apartments of suspected persons in the Balakan district’s villages bordering on Georgia. According to preliminary conclusions, large quantities of weapons have been impounded during the searches.
Earlier, the ministry reported the detention of eight plotters on March 16 - seven Azerbaijani citizens and an ethnic Chechen Russian citizen. Investigators said large amounts of ammunition, explosives and firearms had been smuggled to the country from neighboring Georgia. One of the suspects testified about the plan to stage explosions in public places in Azerbaijan, saying some preparations had already been made to perpetrate the terror acts.*