Azerbaijani police on Monday thwarted an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Baku, according to Israeli media reports.
Afghan citizen Fawzan Mosa Khan was arrested by Azerbaijan’s security services on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against an unspecified foreign embassy. Azerbaijan’s State Security Service issued a statement alleging that Khan conspired in advance with other individuals to commit terrorist actions inside the territory of the eastern Transcaucasia country.
While the statement did not specify the embassy, Azerbaijan’s Turan news outlet noted that the video released by the State Security Service indicated that the suspect had been surveilling the area where the Israeli Embassy is located.
Khan, born in 1990, planned an explosion, fire or something similar, according to the State Security Service.
“It was established that this foreign national arrived to the Republic of Azerbaijan from a foreign country with the intention of committing the above mentioned criminal acts and in order to identify the coordinates of a third country embassy and plan a terroristic act,” the State Security Service said.
The suspect “conducted a surveillance of the embassy building, attempted to identify and enroll individuals to participate in the terrorist act, obtained firearms and explosives, and conspired with other persons to receive financial support for this activity,” the statement continued.
Jerusalem and Baku have recently strengthened their diplomatic relations. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited the country’s capital in April, which followed the March opening of an embassy in Israel. In doing so, Azerbaijan became the first Shi’ite Muslim country to open an embassy in the Jewish state.
Israel has operated an embassy in Baku since 1993, a year after relations were established. It was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
