State Security Service detains Azerbaijani nationals recruited by foreign intelligence

Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (SSS) has detained several citizens accused of carrying out tasks assigned by foreign intelligence agencies and engaging in serious criminal activity.

According to the SSS, investigative measures identified individuals involved in forming an illegal armed group abroad, conducting espionage against foreign officials, and committing other offenses within a structure they believed to be part of the “criminal underworld.”

The agency reported that Amid Samedin oglu Mammadov, born in 1995, was apprehended and brought back to Azerbaijan. Two additional suspects — Nurlan Ilham oglu Safarov (born 1997) and Edik Nabi oglu Israfilov (born 1983) — were also detained and charged.

A criminal case has been launched under Articles 12.1 and 279.1 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, and a court has ordered their pre-trial detention.