AZF
AZF was the name of a chemical factory near Toulouse, France, which exploded on September 21, 2001. In the spring of 2004, a terrorist group adopted the same name and threatened the French government with bombings on railways.
Terrorist Group
The AZF is a terrorist group residing in France. The group has attempted to extort money from the government of France 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. The second time it couldn't start because of fog. The French government placed ads in Liberation, a newspaper in France (which is not read by Islamicists) to contact the terrorists.
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 identical to the one found earlier . It is not sure if that was the work of the AZF.
A letter states that they are temporarily stopping their operations as of March 2004 due to logistical problems. It is still unclear if this letter is from the real AZF.
AZF Explosion at a Toulouse chemical factory
The group is believed to have taken its name from the explosion at the AZF fertilizer factory in Toulouse, France on September 21, 2001, belonging to the Grande Paroisse branch of the Total group.
Hassan Jandoubi, an ammonium nitrate had exploded following from improper handling of this dangerous material, including mixing with chemical impurities.
Islamic Terrorism
