BAKU, September 29. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s State Border Service has confirmed that it has taken former Defense Minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Levon Mnatsakanyan into custody.

Earlier, sources close to the man told TASS about his detention.

"On September 29, thanks to the vigilance of the Azerbaijani State Border Service officers, Levon Mnatsakanyan, who illegally entered Azerbaijan and was 'Defense Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic' from 2015-2018, was detained at the Lachin checkpoint while trying to flee Azerbaijan for Armenia," it said.

According to the State Border Service, Mnatsakanyan was taken to Baku to be "transferred to relevant agencies."

Earlier, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said that it had arrested former deputy commander of the Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh David Manukyan and former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s government Ruben Vardanyan.