The Shaki village in Armenia’s Synik Province

Armenia’s National Security Service confirmed that an Azerbaijani soldier entered the village of Shaki in Armenia’s Syunik Province at 2:15 p.m. local time on Thursday and shot a local women in the leg as her three children witnessed the incident. He was subsequently detained.

According to the NSS, two days earlier, on September 29, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service informed Armenia’s National Security Service that a serviceman from one of Azerbaijan’s military units had left his post under unknown circumstances.

“It could not be ruled out that he may have illegally crossed into the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Following this, the competent authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan carried out the appropriate search operations,” the NSS said.

The official statement does not clarify why Armenian authorities failed to prevent the armed Azerbaijani serviceman from entering Armenia in the preceding days, or why he was not detected before reaching a populated area. It is also unclear whether local residents had been warned about the serviceman’s escape and possible crossing of the Armenian border.

According to the NSS, police received a report of gunfire today.

“It was established that the crime was committed by an Azerbaijani serviceman, who was detained. Details of the incident were also conveyed to the Azerbaijani side. Criminal proceedings have been initiated in connection with the incident by the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia,” the NSS said.

The Investigative Committee declined to comment on whether the detained Azerbaijani serviceman had been transferred to Yerevan.

According to Shaki Mayor Ruben Manucharyan, the injured woman’s life is not in danger.

“When we entered the scene, we saw traces of blood,” Manucharyan added, saying it appeared that the soldier was injured and was bleeding.

Manucharyan explained that the soldier was not wearing military fatigues and was dressed in civilian clothing, “black pants and sneakers.”

“He had entered the woman’s home, then came out of the house and fled. He himself was injured. We followed the blood trail—I mean, I went together with the law-enforcement teams. The appropriate armed units, wearing body armor, very quickly and efficiently neutralized him without any incident. By the time he was apprehended, he was already exhausted from blood loss. I asked him one or two questions in Azerbaijani. He said, ‘Oldum’ [I’m dying]. I told him, ‘You won’t die.’ The law-enforcement officers took the automatic weapon, and he was taken away in an ambulance under military escort,” Manucharyan recounted to Azatutyun.am.

The mayor said he noticed what appeared to be a stab wound in the chest area of the man carrying the automatic weapon.

State authorities have yet to provide information about the Azerbaijani serviceman’s condition.

The 38-year-old woman who was wounded is being treated at the Sisian Medical Center. According to the Health Ministry spokesperson, her life is not in danger. Neither the medical center’s director nor the ministry spokesperson provided further details.

Azerbaijan’s state institutions and media outlets reported information about the missing serviceman, identified as Nasim Musayev, only after he shot the Armenian woman, Shaki.

While Yerevan said Baku contacted Armenian authorities regarding the soldier on September 29, Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Musayev disappeared from his military unit in Lachin on September 26. The Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case into the serviceman’s disappearance.

It remains unclear from the statements issued by the two sides whether Musayev entered Armenian territory on September 26 and therefore spent five days in Armenia.

“An appropriate inquiry was conducted by the Military Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the circumstances of the incident, the results of which confirmed reasonable suspicions that Musayev had voluntarily abandoned his military unit,” Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said.

“As a result of the measures taken, it was established that Nasim Musayev is located on the territory of the Republic of Armenia and has been detained by the relevant authorities of that country,” the Azerbaijani side added.

According to Baku, Azerbaijan’s relevant state institutions are currently “continuing necessary contacts with the relevant institutions of the opposite side in order to clarify Nasim Musayev’s presence in the territory of Armenia, the circumstances of his detention, as well as other details of the incident.”