Azerbaijan should learn anti-terrorism from Israel

Baku/17.10.20/Turan: At about one o'clock on the night of October 17, the Armenian army for the third time hit the peaceful Azerbaijani city of Ganja with a Russian ballistic missile. As of this morning, 13 people died in a completely destroyed residential quarter, including two children. About 52 residents were injured. On the same night, a rocket was launched at Mingachevir, but was  shot down by air defense systems. A previous missile attack on Ganja killed four residents of that city on October 11.

Armenia is openly waging a terrorist war against Azerbaijan. The older generation of our citizens remembers the explosions in the Baku subway, buses, trains and a passenger ship from bombs planted by Armenian terrorists in 1991-1996. Recently, Azerbaijan announced the possibility of new terrorist acts in Baku and other settlements of the country. It is clear from the experience of the war in the nineties that such crimes are planned in Armenia, and there will be attempts at terrorist attacks again.

Turan interviewed retired KGB lieutenant colonel Akif Hasanov. We asked a specialist to explain the necessary actions of the state and citizens to protect against Armenian terror.

- What tasks do the terrorists set, preparing to kill as many defenseless people as possible?

- It is clear that the terrorists intend to inflict the maximum frightening effect on the population in order to create panic, to force civilians to put pressure on the country's leadership, to demand concessions to the enemy. The terrorists want to emphasize that this is only the beginning of problems and will be much worse in the future. To do this, it is not enough for them to blow up the bus, there is no point in taking hostages, since the rule of least evil comes into play here. The assassination must be large enough to make senior management think about the appropriateness of the policy. These are attempts by the weak to force the strong to make sure that the further advance of the Azerbaijani army entails irreparable problems. Terror is always engaged in knowingly weak opponents who do not have an army or other legal means of struggle in a war. Then they kill children and old people, women whose husbands are at the front. This is the handwriting of all terrorists; Armenians are typical in this nasty family.

- How should the state fight terrorism?

- First, the place of possible terror should be known in order to prevent it. However, it is difficult to determine exactly where the enemy intends to carry out the attack. Therefore, terrorists must be destroyed where they are, regardless of what they are currently doing - sleep or aim a rocket at people. It is necessary to determine the method of dealing with a specific terrorist.

It is necessary to take into account:

1. Possible scale of irreparable damage from actions taken by the terrorist;

2. The political expediency of counter-terrorism actions, that is, to determine how they are commensurate with the damage from a possible terrorist attack.

In other words, if the terrorist is alone, acting alone, then it makes no sense to close the entire city, raise the alarm on the country's air defense. On the contrary, if it is known that, as in the case of the Armenians, the enemy is aiming missiles at the city, then there is no need to block the entrance to these cities. Missiles are shot down by air defense systems, and a single terrorist is neutralized by special counter-terrorist units.

Undoubtedly, the first rule of the fight against terrorism is by no means to yield to it, since any concession entails serious consequences.

- Are there universal measures that the state should take in such conditions, in which Azerbaijan is now? There is a war going on in Karabakh and terrorist attacks can be everywhere.

-  Sure. When planning its actions, any special service determines the most vulnerable areas:

1. It is necessary to strengthen control at the borders, carefully study the documents of those arriving, and receive visa support from the countries where there are our diplomatic missions for those arriving in Azerbaijan. It is necessary to check every person requested on the Interpol lists, anyone in doubt should be denied a visa. It is also necessary to check carefully those who receive a visa directly at the airport, anyone who is suspicious to return to the country of arrival without explanation;

2. Identify enterprises and facilities that may be of interest to the enemy, intensify work with agents at these facilities, and thoroughly check every suspect and even respectable citizens. The greater the coverage of control, the greater the chances of neutralizing terror. A potential criminal must feel the futility of entering the object.

3. Conduct extensive propaganda work with the population, explain the danger of a terrorist act, explaining in detail the signs (bags left in the subway or in any transport, bags, personal belongings, etc.). This work is being done, but it is obvious that caution is never enough. Let flyers explaining the dangers of terrorism be posted throughout the country, let them talk about it every hour on TV. We will save people, and it is worth the effort.

4. Urgently hold seminars with representatives of countries that have experience in dealing with the terrorist threat, primarily with the Israeli special services;

5. If necessary, conclude an agreement with foreign specialists, specialized organizations or private companies for training and monitoring the correctness of our actions.

We must proceed from the principle that the stronger and more publicly the work on the fight against terrorism is set, the more criminals will be afraid to act in a country, every citizen in which is ready and able to neutralize terrorists.

The principles of humanity cannot be applied to terrorists. This crime cannot be forgiven and has no statute of limitations. Terrorists are killed as soon as possible, if there is no way to take them alive. They must understand that they are condemning themselves to death. Since they expect to kill people, then they themselves must become the first victims of their plans.-0-