Azerbaijan 'arrested 40 and seized assault rifles and grenades as it thwarted planned terror attacks on Eurovision'

Security forces claim song contest venue and major hotels were targets

Apparently most extravagant alleged attack to date

Other plots included assassination attempt on President Ilham Aliyev, according to officials

Security services in Azerbaijan say they arrested 40 suspects and seized weapons as they thwarted a series of planned terror attacks against the Eurovision Song Contest.

Officials said they had discovered 13 assault rifles, a machine gun, 12 handguns, three rifles, 3,400 rounds of bullets, 62 hand grenades, and several kilograms of explosives.

Targets included the song contest venue and major hotels housing foreigners, including the Marriott and Hilton in Baku, the National Security Ministry said.

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High risk: The song contest venue of Baku Crystal Hall was allegedly a major target along with hotels housing visiting foreigners. Pictured, Loreen of Sweden performs her winning song Euphoria

Azerbaijan has in recent months reported being the target of terrorist activities planned by groups with ties to al-Qaeda and Iran, and this appears to be most extravagant alleged plot revealed to date.

An oil-rich nation of 9million people wedged between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan has nurtured close relations with the US and played an active role in Western-led counter-terrorist programmes.

That policy has placed a strain on its ties with Iran, which hosts a sizeable ethnic Azeri community.

Today's statement said other plots included plans for an assassination attempt on President Ilham Aliyev in April, as well as attacks on religious pilgrimage sites and police stations.



The statement provided no details on when the arrests took place.



'The armed group set itself the aim of mounting terrorist attacks in several regions of Azerbaijan, creating a mood of powerlessness and lawlessness, sowing panic, ethnic and religious enmity, disrupting the public peace and damaging Azerbaijan's international image,' the statement said.

Danger zone: Azerbaijan has recently reported being the target of terrorist activities planned by groups with ties to al-Qaeda and Iran, and this is the most extravagant alleged plot revealed to date. Pictured, Baku

The Eurovision attack would have centred on the Baku Crystal Hall, where the singing competition took place on Saturday.



At least one suspected plotter, 37-year-old Azerbaijani citizen Vugar Padarov, and a security agent were killed during raids to shut down the terrorist group, the statement said.



Padarov was identified in an April security statement as the leader of a group that had received religious training in Syria. Some of its members had weapons training with the Jihad Islami group in Pakistan and took part in fighting Nato-led troops in Afghanistan, the National Security Ministry said.



In March, the ministry announced the arrests of 22 Azerbaijani citizens it said had been hired by Iran to stage terror attacks against the US and Israeli embassies as well as against western-linked groups and companies.



It said they had been trained in Iran by the Revolutionary Guard.

