4 Armenian soldiers were killed
Armenia is reporting that three soldiers were killed and another was injured as Azerbaijan mounted an offensive against positions in the Gegharkunik Province on Friday.
The defense ministry initially announced the death toll to be three after doctors were able to revive one of the soldiers who was believed to have died.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of encroaching on Armenia’s territorial integrity after Friday’s brazen attack.
“Today, Azerbaijani Armed Forces , using UAVs and mortars, attacked positions towards the Armenian combat outposts nearby Sotk & Norabak, leaving 3 servicemen dead & 2 wounded. Encroachments on the territorial integrity of Armenia, combined with warmongering rhetoric, are a continuation of Azerbaijan’s policy,” Pashinyan said in a post on X.
“On September 1, the armed forces of Azerbaijan opened fire on the positions of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia located in the area of Sotk and Norabak in the Gegharkunik region, which resulted in casualties of 4 killed and 1 wounded. Azerbaijan’s armed forces also used mortars and UAV,” the foreign ministry said in a statement that demanded Azerbaijan withdraw its troops from Armenia’s sovereign territory.
The attacks started in the early morning hours of Friday and have continued throughout the day.
Since around 7:50 a.m. local time, Azerbaijani forces began shooting at positions in Sotk and Norabak villages in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province. According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, as of 2:30 p.m. local time the attacks had subsided, but the situation remained tense.
Of the four fatalities, two of them are from Armenia’s Massis region. They were identified as Andranik Antonyan and Arsen Mkrtchyan. Davit Hambartsumyan, the mayor of Massis announced their names in a social media posts.
The Massis city council told Azatutyun.am that the two were taking part in a 25-day training exercises.
The Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Azerbaijan’s military aggression targeting Armenian border positions in Gegharkunik province and warned that Baku’s actions could seriously disrupt the efforts aimed at establishing stability and lasting peace in the region.
In a statement released Friday, the foreign ministry called on the international community to restrain “Azerbaijan’s growing maximalist behavior.”
Yerevan accused Baku of systematically disseminating false information as cover for military attacks against Armenian positions.
“The encroachments against the territorial integrity of Armenia, combined with the statements and bellicose rhetoric regularly made by the Azerbaijani side on various levels as well as channeled through various state media, are the continuation of Baku’s aggressive policy aimed at settling existing problems and imposing its own will through the use of force and the threat of use of force,” the foreign ministry said in its statement.
“Under the conditions of targeted calls and growing pressure to lift the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan’s provocation is also aimed at diverting the attention of the international community and avoiding the fulfillment of its obligations,” added the statement.
“We strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior, which is coupled with the overt siege of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh through the eight-month-long illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and can seriously disrupt the efforts aimed at establishing stability and lasting peace in the region. The Republic of Armenia reaffirms its principled position that all units of Azerbaijan’s armed forces must be withdrawn from the sovereign territory of Armenia,” Yerevan said.
“We call on the international community and the stakeholders interested in real stability in the region to restrain Azerbaijan’s daily increasing maximalist behavior through the existing mechanisms and active and clear steps in order to prevent further escalation of the situation and to bring Azerbaijan to a constructive track,” the statement said.