Azerbaijan, Baku, 13 March /corr. Trend E.Guliyev / The family of the Azerbaijani soldier who was taken prisoner by the divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces officially stated that he left the military unit willingly, soldier Mukhtarov Yagub's grandmother, Gannab Yagubova, told Trend Regional Correspondent.
According to her, they talked to Mukhtarov by telephone on 9 March in which Mukhtarov said that on the eve of Novruz Holiday, he would return home. Yagubova said that they first learned of Mukhtarov being taken prisoner from the press on 12 March. She said that the Defence Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan had not informed them of this.
The press services of the Defence Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Mukhtarov had willingly left the military unit. Previously, the press secretary of Armenian Defence Ministry, Seyran Shahsuvaryan, reported that Azerbaijani soldier Mukhtarov, born on 29 April 1988 in Azerbaijan's district of Sheki, was taken prisoner in the direction of Azerbaijan's district of Tovuz.
Mukhtarov was called up for military service by Sheki Military Registration Commission.
Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry did not provide any additional information in this regard.