Azerbaijani security forces detained the former commander of the Artsakh army, Lieutenant General Levon Mnatsakanyan, and the ex-secretary of the Security Council of the unrecognized republic, Arshavir Garamyan, at a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor. This was reported by sources from the Factor and TASS agencies “surrounded by the military leader” and the head of the public organization “Civic Consciousness” Narek Samsonyan.
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Mnatsakanyan was the Minister of Defense of Artsakh from 2015 to 2018, during the same years he commanded the armed forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh. Gharamyan also has the rank of lieutenant general. In September 2007, he was appointed chief of the Artsakh police, and a few months later — prosecutor general. Since 2014, the official took the post of director of the local national security service.
On September 27, billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, who headed the regional government, was also detained at a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor. The next day, the head of Nagorno-Karabakh Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree ending the existence of the unrecognized republic. Vardanyan was arrested by the Azerbaijani authorities on suspicion of terrorism financing.
A little over a week ago, on September 19, the Azerbaijani army began shelling Nagorno-Karabakh, calling it “anti-terrorist measures of a local nature.” The shelling stopped on September 20, when the Nagorno-Karabakh army agreed to lay down its arms. After this, the Armenian population began to leave the region.
Nagorno-Karabakh. Ceasefire in exchange for disarmament