Units of the Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) captured a terrorist from the Syrian town of Hama, who fought as a mercenary on the side of the Azerbaijani army in Karabakh, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said this on Friday.
"Units of the Defense Army have captured a terrorist whose first interrogation leaves no doubt about the presence of mercenary terrorists on the front line of the Azerbaijani army. The captured Islamist's name is Mehred Muhammad Alshkher, he comes from the Syrian city of Hama," she wrote on her Facebook page, adding a video of the interrogation of the prisoner to the recording.
According to Stepanyan, during the interrogation, he confessed that he found himself on the line of contact in Karabakh on October 19 along with 250 other terrorists sent there by Turkey. "They were promised 2 000 dollars but were not paid. After his wound, his comrades left him on the battlefield. He says they are the first on the front line, and the second and third echelons are Azerbaijanis," the spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry added.
The mercenary, Stepanyan specified, told that "before getting to the front, they participated in the training camp where Turkish military instructors worked with them".
Turkey's participation in the Karabakh conflict
Armenian authorities have repeatedly stated that Turkey is involved in the military conflict in Karabakh. Yerevan has reported that Turkish servicemen are fighting on the side of Azerbaijani forces, Ankara has assumed command of air battles, as well as transferring terrorists from the Middle East, particularly from Syria and Libya to Karabakh.
Escalation of the conflict
The situation in the region escalated on September 27, and active battles started on the disputed territory. Parties report about killed and wounded, including civilians. The ceasefire agreement was reached three times already, but almost immediately the parties to the conflict started to exchange accusations of their violation.
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Photo: EPA / VAHRAM BAGHDASARYAN / PHOTOLURE / TASS
Based on materials from TASS