Azerbaijan's prisoners taken out of Shusha prison amid ongoing hostilities

By Trend

Azerbaijanis Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, taken hostage by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar district in 2014, were transferred from the prison in the Nagorno Karabakh’s city of Shusha to Armenia, Asgarov's son Kurdoglu referring to the staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Trend.

“The committee called me and said that my father and Shahbaz Guliyev were transferred from the Shusha prison to Armenia,” he noted. “The committee also said that it had no information what territory in Armenia they were transferred to. Their location is currently being specified. Once their whereabouts are established, the committee staff will visit them and then inform us. The committee added that it will inform us about the further state of the hostages.”

According to Asgarov’s son, it was in September 2020 that representatives of ICRC visited the hostages last time.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.