AZF (Terrorist group)
Encyclopedia
AZF is a terrorist group based in France
. The first record of the group was in Spring 2004. At this time the group is believed to have taken its name from the explosion of the AZF chemical factory in Toulouse http://www.uneptie.org/pc/apell/disasters/toulouse/home.html in 2001.
The group has attempted to extort money from the French government, by threatening to place explosives along the nation's rail lines. The French government tried to pay them twice, but the first time the helicopter couldn't find the transfer point and on the second occasion couldn't take off because of fog. The French government placed ads in the newspaper Libération
to contact the terrorists. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3567369.stm
Once, to demonstrate their power, they led the French railway workers to a bomb, who neutralized it. A week or so later another bomb was found on the TGV
train tracks, but it wasn't live and wasn't the same as the one found earlier http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=58&story_id=5959. It is not sure if this was the work of AZF.
In March 2004, a letter stated that they were temporarily stopping their operations due to logistical problems. It is still unclear whether this letter was from the real AZF.http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=77621&Sn=WORL
The authors were not identified and their motivations are still unclear. The most probable hypothesis is the money. They probably stopped their activity because of the train bombings
in Madrid
on the 11 March 2004.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The first record of the group was in Spring 2004. At this time the group is believed to have taken its name from the explosion of the AZF chemical factory in Toulouse http://www.uneptie.org/pc/apell/disasters/toulouse/home.html in 2001.
The group has attempted to extort money from the French government, by threatening to place explosives along the nation's rail lines. The French government tried to pay them twice, but the first time the helicopter couldn't find the transfer point and on the second occasion couldn't take off because of fog. The French government placed ads in the newspaper Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
to contact the terrorists. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3567369.stm
Once, to demonstrate their power, they led the French railway workers to a bomb, who neutralized it. A week or so later another bomb was found on the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
train tracks, but it wasn't live and wasn't the same as the one found earlier http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=58&story_id=5959. It is not sure if this was the work of AZF.
In March 2004, a letter stated that they were temporarily stopping their operations due to logistical problems. It is still unclear whether this letter was from the real AZF.http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=77621&Sn=WORL
The authors were not identified and their motivations are still unclear. The most probable hypothesis is the money. They probably stopped their activity because of the train bombings
11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
The Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 , killing 191 people and wounding 1,800...
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on the 11 March 2004.