Azerbaijan’s government strikes at the Shiite opposition

On 26 November 2015, an unprecedented special forces operation was launched in the village of Nardaran (9000 inhabitants). As a result, according to official figures, 14 members of the Muslim Unity were arrested, and automatic weapons and grenades were confiscated, among other arms. In the gunfight that ensued during the operation, seven people were killed (including two police officers). The next day, a blockade was introduced around Nardaran; electricity was shut off and traffic to the village was limited. Attempts by the council of elders in Nardaran to hold talks with the authorities failed, and on 1 December 2015 forces of the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of National Security entered the village. As a result a further 19 people were detained. The blockade of Nardaran wass still ongoing on 3 December 2015. At the same time, in the country’s second largest city, Ganja, six members of Muslim Unity were arrested, and in Baku the editor of the opposition website Azadheber was detained. The authorities accuse Muslim Unity of wanting to change the constitutional order, introduce sharia and carry out attacks, and have also suggested that MU has links with Islamic State and Iran (at which the Iranian embassy has protested).