16 Soldiers Died in Armenia and Karabakh Armies in First Three Months of 2017

Sixteen servicemen have died in Armenia’s Armed Forces (4) and the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army (12) in the first three months of 2017, according to a report issued on Tuesday by the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office (HCAV).

Eight of the servicemen, HCAV said, were killed in ceasefire violations; the remaining deaths were attributed by military officials to a group of causes – suicide, breach of combat duty rules, carbon monoxide poisoning, accident. The circumstances of one soldier’s death still remain unknown.

The number of army deaths, the report added, remained unchanged compared with the same period last year; meanwhile, the number of deaths in ceasefire violations has nearly tripled – from 3 in 2016 to 8 this year, whereas the suicide rate in the army decreased in 2017 from 8 to 3 deaths.