AZF (Terrorist group)

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.