Anvar Afandiyev was born on 18 November 1965, in the village of Qaşqaçay, in the Qakh District of the Azerbaijan SSR, which was then part of the Soviet Union.

From 1989 to 1992, he served as a division commander and battalion deputy chief of staff for Soviet troops stationed in the Mongolian People's Republic.

[1] From the beginning of his service in the Azerbaijan Army, he directly participated in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War as a regimental commander in the Aghdam.

On the 25th anniversary of the modern armed forces in June 2016, he was awarded the military rank of major general.

[1][3] When the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War began, he participated in battles as the commander of the 6th (Reserve) Army Corps.