Suspect in murder of three servicemen detained in Lachin

By Vafa Ismayilova

A serviceman of Azerbaijani State Border Service, who is suspected of killing three of his comrades, has been arrested, Trend has reported, quoting the Prosecutor-General's Office.

"A preliminary investigation showed that a serviceman of the active military service, junior sergeant Elkhan Avazli, for unknown reasons, opened fire from his service weapon and killed the servicemen of the border post, where he served, killing senior lieutenant Yusif Ismayilov, junior ensign Amil Jalilzadeh and junior ensign Rafail Ibrahimov. Following the onslaught, he dropped the weapon and fled the murder scene," the report added.

"As a result of search operations, Avazli was spotted on January 3, 2022, and was detained in Malkhalaf village of Lachin region," the Prosecutor-General's Office said.

The investigation into the criminal case was entrusted to the investigation department of the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Intensive investigative steps are ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the incident.

At about 1800 (GMT +4) on January 2, the Azerbaijani State Border Service received information about the murder of three servicemen on the territory of the "Gubadli" separate border unit.