Young Soldiers Killed in Karabakh

Two soldiers killed in Nagorno Karabakh.

Last night two Armenian soldiers were killed after being fatally wounded in Nagorno Karabakh.

According to a press statement by the Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh, at approximately 21:00 on November 12, soldiers Vahe Vanoyan (b. 1995) and Mikael Torosyan (b. 1996) were killed by gunshots fired by the Azerbaijani side. The two young soldiers were serving in a post along the southern section of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact.

The defense ministry has launched an investigation into the deaths.

This past year has seen a dangerous escalation in tensions in the region. On September 25, four Armenian soldiers of the Karabakh Defense Army were killed near the northeastern section of the Line of Contact. According to a statement by the NKR Defense Ministry at the time, Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on Armenian frontline positions using Turkish-manufactured rocket propelled howitzers.

That incident had come on the heels of intense shelling aimed at peaceful civilians living in border villages along the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border on September 24, which resulted in three civilian casualties.