Azerbaijani police detain 8 people over alleged terror activities

Azerbaijani police have arrested eight people suspected of having ties with the Islamic State(IS) and other terrorist groups, State Security Service of Azerbaijan said in a statement on Friday.

The suspects illegally crossed into Syria and Iraq from 2012 to 2015.

They are accused of undergoing military training outside the country, and participating in armed conflicts and other illegal activities.

The detained actively participated in military operations as part of an illegal armed group "Ansar Muhajir" in Syria and "Muvahidd Jamaat" in Iraq, the statement says.

According to the statement, suspects have also created illegal armed groups and supplied them with various types of firearms and ammunition.

International terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda, IS, Al-Nusra Front, Azeri Jamaat, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic International Brigade, ASALA and PKK are banned in Azerbaijan.

In recent years, the Azerbaijani security services have focused on the threat posed by radical and nationalistic Islamic armed groups, such as those responsible for the 1994 Baku Metro bombings and the 2007 Baku terrorist plot.

The country's Security Service is primarily responsible for combating terrorism, although the Ministry of Internal Affairs also plays a role as the country's primary law enforcement entity. Endite