A criminal group of six members which had planned terror acts in Baku and was earlier detained in Azerbaijan, had ties with Al-Qaeda terror organization, the Ministry of National Security said in a statement on Thursday. The group members, led by Amiraslan Isgandarov, were sentenced to between three and fourteen years in prison by the court this February.Isgandarov was proven to have been involved in military action within the Al-Qaeda terror organization in Afghanistan in 1999-2003, making and using explosives, and preparation of weapons of mass destruction. After returning to Azerbaijan, Isgandarov planned committing terrorist acts in the country. He conducted propaganda among representatives of ethnic minorities, in particular, young people. While attempting to set up an entity called "Jamaat", Isgandarov tried to sow the sentiment of hatred among people towards the Azerbaijani state. The criminal group was masterminding terrorist acts in different parts of Baku, including areas where large numbers of foreign citizens live and work, power ministries, strategic and other sites, and acquired parts of explosive substances.
Isgandarov was actively involved in preparing suicide bombers, trying to attract girls inclined to radical religious views. Upon consent of several girls, he instructed them to wait for their time to commit the terrorist acts. Isgandarov also acquired recipes of poisonous substances, planning to further use them to commit mass killings of people in Azerbaijani regions. The criminals wrote a letter to the Azeri government on behalf of the "Al-Qaeda Caucasus" organization demanding it to give up its anti-terrorist course and principles of a secular and democratic state, and warning of imminent explosions in Baku. During the search, the National Security Ministry impounded large quantities of TNT and other explosives, hand grenades, fuses, ammunition, books and tapes propagating terrorism and Jihad.