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Armenia has data about 32 soldiers taken prisoner by Azerbaijan during latest escalation

The Armenian side is taking efforts to release these people

YEREVAN, November 23. /TASS/. Armenia has information that 32 of its soldiers were taken prisoner by Azerbaijan following an escalation at the border on November 16, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday.

"According to unverified data, I understand that it sounds strange, twenty-four soldiers, who are out of touch, were taken prisoner. According to unverified data, there are more of them. Those soldiers who were reported dead, as a matter of fact, are in prison. Six people were killed. Thirty-two were taken prisoner," he told an online news conference.

According to the Armenian prime minister, this information needs to be verified, however, the Armenian side is taking efforts to release these people.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. Apart from that, a number of districts came over to Baku’s control.

On November 16, 2021, skirmishes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies broke out in border areas in Syunik Province. Yerevan accused Azerbaijan of staging an offensive into Armenia’s territory, while Baku said that Armenian troops had attacked Azerbaijani posts. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had telephone conversations with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts later on that day, Yerevan and Baku took measures to stabilize the situation.