About 900 Azerbaijani Citizens Join Terrorists in Iraq, Syria, Many of Them Die

Some 900 Azerbaijani citizens have joined terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, and many of them have died.

BAKU (Sputnik) — About 900 Azerbaijani citizens have joined the ranks of terrorist organizations operating in Syria and Iraq, head of Azerbaijan's State Security Service Madat Guliyev said Friday, adding that many of them died while fighting.

"About 900 Azerbaijani citizens have joined the terrorists in Syria and Iraq under the influence of radical organizations. Many of them died during the fighting," Guliyev said at a conference devoted to the youth's role in combating terrorism, extremism and radicalism.

According to Guliyev, 84 of these Azerbaijani nationals have faced criminal charges.

"Over the past year, Azerbaijan's citizenship was revoked from 54 people," he added.

The Daesh terrorist group, banned in Russia, has managed to seize large territories in Syria since the start of the civil war in the country in 2011. In 2014, Daesh launched a full scale offensive against Iraq, seizing a number of cities and towns including the second biggest Iraqi city of Mosul.