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A mosque in Garachukhur settlement in Baku was set to fire on November 26 at about 2 a.m. by unknown people. The arson caused a damage of about 6-7 thousand manats, Mirmakhmud Fattaev, the akhoond of the mosque, told the Azerbaijani news portal “Haqqin.az”.

According to the akhoond, two people attacked the guard and hit him before getting in and setting fire to the mosque. “All the carpets have burnt, and all the windows got broken. I do not know who did that. After the arsonists fled the guard set on putting out the fire together with the local people,” Fattaev reports.

As the article states, the police are carrying out the incident scene investigation at the moment verifying the fact of arson.

In December, 2013 several mosques, including Garachukhur, were taken under the control of the police following by a shootout between representatives of extremist movements of "Salafi" and "Khawariji" in Sumgait. In June, 2014 Baku mayor’s son was discovered to attend the mosque in Garachukhur which turned out to be “a Salafi gathering place.”

Azerbaijan has recently increased the pressure on the religious activists and communities which are suspected to have relations with Wahhabis. According to some opinions, Ilham Aliev’s government may become a target for the Salafis who have joined the Islamist groups in Syria and come back to Azerbaijan with a fighting experience.