Israel secretly deployed troops and intelligence personnel in Azerbaijan during its recent war with Iran, the US outlet CNN has reported, saying the forces operated as part of a covert military network spread across the Middle East. The report said Israeli special forces and intelligence personnel took up positions at several locations in southern Azerbaijan, near Iran’s northern border — some of them just 60 miles from the Iranian city of Tabriz. During the war they were involved in gathering intelligence, operating drones and conducting special operations.
Sources claimed the forces deployed in Azerbaijan included Israeli special-operations units, an elite heliborne combat and rescue force, and Mossad personnel. Although initially planned for emergency rescue operations, the positions later became intelligence and military bases. According to CNN, besides Azerbaijan, Israel had also set up covert military positions in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Somaliland. These bases gave Israel a presence on Iran’s northern, western and southern flanks, making it easier to conduct long-range operations and sustained strikes inside the country. Azerbaijan’s embassy in the United States, however, rejected as baseless the allegation that its territory was used against a third country, in a statement to CNN.
The report also said Somaliland — a breakaway territory in the Horn of Africa — gave Israel the use of a military position, considered a possible refuelling stop on long-range flights toward Iran. Israel also deployed an Iron Dome air-defence system and troops to operate it in the UAE during the war. CNN’s report further said that, a few weeks before the war began, Israel carried out a covert operation to install surveillance equipment and listening devices on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, to monitor Iran’s military activity and gather early warning of missile launches.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report