Murder of Two Senior Police Officers in Azerbaijan During Islamist Protests

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan announced that during "violent protests by dozens of radical Islamists" in the city of Ganja, two senior police colonels were killed by knife attacks. This report, published simultaneously on the official websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Ministry of Information of Azerbaijan, states that on the evening of Tuesday, July 9, 150 to 200 people gathered in front of the Ganja municipality, the second largest city in Azerbaijan. According to the report, while the police were present to disperse the crowd, two senior police colonels were killed by knife attacks from a number of protesters. The report adds that 40 protesters were arrested and the rest fled. The Azerbaijani government has published images of two suspects in the murder of the two police officers and has asked the public to contact the police if they have information about their hiding places. The Islamist protests and the murder of the two police officers come after Elmar Valiyev, the mayor of Ganja, was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in the head and body by a local individual. The shooter was arrested shortly thereafter by the police. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan reported separately that the shooter of the mayor and his bodyguard had resided in Qom for eight months and then went to Syria for military training. Yunus Safarov, born in Ganja and currently a citizen of Russia, traveled to Iran in 2016 and stayed in Qom for eight months. According to the report, he was then sent to Syria as part of forces supporting Bashar al-Assad and received military training. However, Azerbaijan has not accused the Iranian government of any wrongdoing. At the same time as the assassination attempt on the mayor of Ganja, Abbas Salehi, Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, was visiting Baku and met with President Ilham Aliyev. A few days before the assassination attempt on the mayor of Ganja, Mr. Salehi had traveled to Ganja to participate in the Iranian Cultural Week in Azerbaijan and was welcomed by Mr. Valiyev. After Safarov's arrest, several of his "accomplices" were also arrested, which faced protests from a group of Islamists in Ganja. In this context, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan sentenced 14 people to imprisonment for their activities on social media.