TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Azerbaijani authorities have arrested 26 suspected Islamic State (IS) members, according to a statement released by Azerbaijan's Ministry of National Security.
The Ministry of the ex-Soviet Republic said yesterday that the suspects were arrested for conspiring with and supplying weapons to illegal armed groups in Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, with known links to IS.
According to the Ministry's statement, a number suspects were recruited by a Taliban-affiliated group in Pakistan, which then relocated their operations to Syria along with several other members who arrived via Turkey into Syria.
The United States (US) and its Arab allies have launched an offensive against the hardline Islamist group - the first intervention of such kind since the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011.
Azerbaijan's has a significant Muslim majority, but remains under secular rule since its break-up from the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijani media have reported that a number of people from the Central Asian republic have decided to fight in Syria along with IS fighters, including members of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar - a known Islamist jihadist group made up of Chechen and other Russian-speaking foreign fighters, according to AFP reports.
Antara | Maryati