Two Soldiers Killed in Karabakh; Fellow Servicemen Arrested

Two conscript soldiers, 20-year-old Hrach Avetisyan and 19-year-old Aram Khachatryan, were killed on October in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to a statement issued by the Investigative Committee of Armenia, Khachatryan was shot in his right shoulder at around 12:40 on Monday in the defense positions of one of Nagorno-Karabakh military units. The soldier died on the way to hospital.

“There is sufficient evidence to suggest that Khachatryan became a victim of homicide; the identity of the alleged criminal has been established. A conscript soldier of the same military unit, a junior sergeant, has been arrested on suspicion of murder,” he official statement said.

As for Hrach Avetisyan, he was reportedly shot in the forehead from his own service weapon, the Committee told News.am.

“A number of people, including eyewitnesses, have been questioned by investigators. Avetisyan’s fellow servicemen tried to immediately take him to the Stepanakert hospital, but he died on the way,” a spokesperson for the Committee told News.am, adding that a conscript of the same military unit has been arrested on suspicion of violating  the statutory rules for the relations among servicemen in the absence  of a superior-subordinate relationship.

Officials, however, have yet to clarify whether the two soldiers were killed in the same incident.