Russian border guards deployed in Armenia said on Wednesday that they have detained five citizens of Afghanistan who crossed into the country from neighboring Turkey.
A statement by the guards’ headquarters in Yerevan cited by the Armenpress news agency described the Afghans as members of a “criminal group that tried to illegally enter Armenia.”
“The intruders have been handed over to law-enforcement bodies of the Republic of Armenia in a legally defined manner,” it said. “A set of necessary measures are being taken to ascertain all circumstances of the incident.”
A photograph released by the Russians showed three blindfolded men lying on the ground.
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), which is also charged with protecting the country’s borders with Turkey and Iran, made no statements on the incident.
The NSS reported in May that it is investigating possible links with “terrorist groups” of six Bangladeshi men who were detained while crossing into the country from Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave which also borders on Turkey and Iran. It said they claimed to have accidentally strayed into Armenian territory while trying to reach Turkey “for the purpose of finding work.”
The men were charged at the time with illegally border crossing, a serious criminal offense in Armenia.
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