Azerbaijan said today that its security ministry had arrested 10 people suspected of fighting with Islamist militants in Syria and recruiting other fighters from the former Soviet country.
"As a result of an operation by the national security ministry, 10 citizens of Azerbaijan who had fought in Syria were arrested," the ministry said in a statement.
It said the ten who were all arrested in 2014 had taken illegal routes to enter Syria, undergone military training in the country and participated in "military operations as part of militarised groups that breach the laws of Azerbaijan and Syria."
The men were also accused of "recruiting Azerbaijani citizens into military operations outside the country... On the basis of religious intolerance."
The Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan is a mainly Muslim but officially secular country of 9.5 million. Its leadership has long been concerned about the spread of radical Islam especially among the large number of unemployed youths who feel left behind by its oil boom.
In September, Azerbaijan arrested 26 people for allegedly fighting with Islamic State jihadists.
