Azerbaijani forces arrest Armenian soldier attempting to lay mines

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU (AA) - Azerbaijani forces arrested an Armenian soldier in the Lachin town when he was attempting to lay mines, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the ministry said a reconnaissance-sabotage group of the Armenian armed forces took advantage of unfavorable weather conditions and infiltrated the Azerbaijani territory.

While an Armenian soldier, identified as Artur Kartanyan, was detained, other members of the Armenian group fled the area, the statement said.

The ministry said that the Armenian reconnaissance-sabotage group’s mission was to mine Azerbaijani territories.

In 1991, the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

On Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During a consequent 44-day conflict, which ended under a deal signed on Nov. 10, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenian occupation.​​​​​​​