24-Year-Old Armenian Contract Serviceman Killed by Azerbaijani Fire

Armenian contract serviceman Garik Avanesyan, 24, was fatally wounded at around 9 pm on December 8 by fire from the Azerbaijani side at the positions of a Nagorno Karabakh (NKR) Defense Army military unit deployed in the Eastern direction of the line of contact between NKR and Azerbaijani forces, the NKR defense ministry said Wednesday.

Karabakh military authorities' statement added that for the first time since the ceasefire in 1994, Azerbaijani forces used tanks to shell the southern frontline positions of the NKR Defense Army.