Azernews.Az

JERUSALEM – The Israel Counter Terrorism Bureau issued a warning Friday cautioning Israelis against traveling to eight countries including Azerbaijan because of "the increased threat of terror attacks against Israelis abroad", Haaretz newspaper reported.

It said that travels to Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania and Venezuela, should be avoided.

The warning came "in anticipation of threats" resulting from the anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah officials Imad Mughniyah and Abbas al-Masawi, both of which were allegedly perpetrated by Israel, Haaretz said.

Israelis were also discouraged from traveling in the near future to hotspots in which there is a high concentration of Israelis, and strongly advised adhering to security guidelines from local authorities.

Hezbollah blames Israel for assassinating al-Masawi, the then secretary-general of Hezbollah, in 1992 and the group’s military commander Imad Mughniyah in 2008. Israel has denied any role in Mughniyah's killing.

Since Mughniyah's killing, Hezbollah fighters attempted to stage terror acts against Jews outside Israel.

On January 31, the US and British governments issued a warning to their citizens over the alleged threat of terror in Azerbaijan. The State Department said in a statement that the security alert is based on "terrorist threat information", but it did not detail the gist of the threat or who could pose it.

Orkhan Mansurzada, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry, commented on Friday that the crime situation in the country is fully under control.

He said the security of all diplomatic missions and their staff based in Azerbaijan is reliably protected and their places of residence are guarded.