Epress.am News from Armenia
In the first half of 2014, as a result of 22 incidents, 23 soldiers died in the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh — but official announcements were issued for only 16 of them. Of the incidents of death, 8 occurred in the Republic of Armenia, while 15 occurred in the de facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. This is stated in a report [AM] issued today by the Yerevan-based Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office [AM].
According to the organization's findings, of the 23 recorded incidents of death, only 11 were as a result of the violation of ceasefire. Human rights activists compare this with last year's data, calling attention to the fact that there were fewer victims (5) at the border in all of 2013 than in the first 6 months of this year (i.e. the 11 deaths resulting from ceasefire violations).
In the same period last year, there were 15 deaths in the army; that is, the mortality rate increased by 30% this year.
"Criminal cases were launched in18 of the 23 incidents. According to the available information, the 18 criminal cases are at the preliminary investigation stage," reads the report.