Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of capturing 10 civilians

After the announcement of the truce, Azerbaijani militaries detained ten residents of Armenia on the Goris-Berdzor-Stepanakert highway, the Armenian Ombudsperson's Office and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have stated. The Azerbaijani authorities have not commented on these accusations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 14, the road via the Lachin Corridor was officially opened for civilian traffic; however, the authorities' assurances about the safety of the new route failed to convince residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.

On November 11, ten civilians disappeared on the Goris-Berdzor-Stepanakert highway, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Armenian Ombudsperson's Office.

David Isaakyan used his car to transport the Karabakh citizens, who decided to return home after the armistice, to the village of Gishi in the Martuni District, Zhanna Gazaryan, David's wife, a resident of Yerevan, told reporters.

On November 15, from a video posted on the Internet, Zhanna learned that David had been taken prisoner, as she recognized him among several captured men who were transported in a car. "He had someone else's torn clothes on; it was clear that they had been tortured," Zhanna Gazaryan has noted.

Other citizens of Armenia have also recognized their relatives in the posted video.

The capturing of ten civilians on November 11 on the Goris-Berdzor-Stepanakert highway was confirmed by Vitaly Voskanyan, Chairman of the Commission on Matters of the Prisoners of War and Missing Persons of the Armenian MoD. The capture of civilians a day after the announcement of the ceasefire means that Azerbaijan fails to observe the ceasefire, Mr Voskanyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that all the facts have been sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other international bodies.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 24, 2020 at 07:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.