Azerbaijan kidnaps Karabakh student on his way to Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Azerbaijani military has abducted a second Nagorno-Karabakh civilian in the past month, the Artsakh InfoCenter reports.

Identified as Alen Sargsyan, the 22-year-old man was on his way to Armenia to continue his education in Yerevan. He accompanied by Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the region.

In late July, Azerbaijan kidnapped Vagif Khachatryan, a 68-year-old Nagorno-Karabakh resident being evacuated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for urgent medical treatment, in the Lachin corridor.

Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population. On August 15, Karabakh Human Rights Defender’s office reported the first case of death from starvation.