The 2008 Abu Bakr Mosque Bombing took place on August 17, 2008, when a grenade was thrown through a window of the Abu Bakr mosque (''Əbübəkr Məscidi'') in central

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, during the evening prayer.Azeri president to oversee mosque blast probe, 18 Aug 2008, Reuters, By Lada Yevgrashina
/ref> Three people were killed and eleven more were injured. The Azerbaijani security forces accused the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

-based Islamist

Jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

group, Derbent Jamaat, for the attack and launched the Operation Eagle.

Background

According to the annual Country Report on Terrorism in 2008 of the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, "Azerbaijan is a logical route for extremists with ties to terrorist organizations". According to

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, the mosque is used both by Sunni and Wahhabi Muslims. And while Azerbaijan has launched several investigations into

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

in the last few months, law enforcement agencies determined that Wahhabists convicted of an attempted terrorist act in the town of

Sumgait Sumqayit (or Sumgait; ; , ) is a city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, about away from the capital Baku. The city had a population of 427,000 at the beginning of 2024, making it the List of cities in Azerb ...

had links to

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. Whilst the activities of Wahabbists in Azerbaijan are considered controversial, the government has declared Wahabbi groups would not be banned. The U.S. and Israeli embassies in Azerbaijan expressed concern about the incident.

Investigation

A special committee was created to handle the investigation. The mosque remained closed during the investigation. The Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan accused the

-based Derbent Jamaat leaders Ilgar Mollachiyev from Zagatala, and Samir Mehdiyev (Suleiman) and a group of others of organizing the attack on Abu Bakr Mosque in Baku. In 2007, 17 members of the group were arrested in Sumgayit. As the Ministry reported, "According to their plan, a Sumgayit Jamaat (a secret extremist group) had to be created. They planned a number of robberies in Baku in order to collect funds for a holy war (Jihad)."MNS Names Organizers of Terrorist Attack On Abu Bakr Mosque, Sept. 2008
/ref> The attack was followed by the Operation Eagle, launched by the Azerbaijani security services.

References

External links

Who is Behind the Bombing of the Salafi Mosque in Baku?
Terrorism Focus Volume: 5 Issue: 31, September 2, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Bakr Mosque of Baku attack 2000s murders in Azerbaijan Terrorist incidents in Azerbaijan Islamic terrorism in Azerbaijan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2008 Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2008 21st century in Baku 2008 murders in Asia Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2008

Mass murder in 2008 21st-century mass murder in Azerbaijan Attacks on buildings and structures in 2008 Islamist attacks on mosques Attacks on mosques in Asia Attacks on mosques in Europe Grenade attacks in Asia August 2008 in Asia August 2008 in Europe August 2008 crimes in Asia Grenade attacks in Europe 21st-century attacks on mosques