Azerbaijani “Saboteurs” Either Captured or “Destroyed,” Report Karabakh Defense Authorities

Around noon today, at the border between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, in an area called Harur Gorge, an Azerbaijani was wounded then captured, the same Vardenis resident who did not wish to be identified informed Epress.am. According to him, the Azerbaijani man was injured as a result of the search operations of the Armenian Armed Forces. They are preparing to take him to Yerevan. 

Locals are convinced the man is one of the members of a group of Azerbaijani saboteurs that were partly neutralized after they allegedly infiltrated an Armenian-controlled district near Nagorno-Karabakh last week.

To confirm the news, an Epress.am correspondent contacted Karabakh Defense Army spokesperson Senor Hasratyan, who said he's on vacation and can't say anything. Asked who is authorized to respond instead, Hasratyan stressed that if there is information, the press department will issue a statement. To the Epress.am correspondent's remark that Karabakh's Ministry of Defense usually issues statements quite late, Hasratyan said the journalist doesn't understand the defense ministry's work style. He said, unlike the news media, the Karabakh Ministry of Defense thinks about the interests and security of the state, which is why press releases are sometimes late. 

Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia (RA) spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan did not answer our phone calls.

When the original Armenian-language version of this article was published, the NKR Ministry of Defense issued a statement [AM] in which it said that the actions carried out by special units of the Karabakh Defense Army to neutralize the Azerbaijani reconnaissance and sabotage group ended at 1 pm today at Kelbajar. "As a result, all members of the group were captured or destroyed by Armenian forces. Other details of the incident will be provided later," read the statement, in part. 

Recall, the defense ministries of the Republic of Armenia and the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) on July 12 reported the neutralization of an Azerbaijani "saboteur". According to official sources, in the course of action, Major Sargis Abrahamyan, 42, and Karine Davtyan, 37, received gunshot wounds.