The Armenian Ministry of Defence (MOD) has reported the death of an Armenian soldier due to a skirmish on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Samvel Gagik Alaverdyan, born in 1983, a contract soldier, received a fatal gunshot wound this morning (14 July) after fire was exchanged at the Yeraskh/Sadarak section of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan’s western exclave, Nakhichevan. The Azerbaijani MOD reports that an Azerbaijani serviceman, Mardanli Ibadulla Mahsud, was also injured during the incident and has been evacuated to hospital.
An account by the Armenian MOD states that the incident occurred at 10:30 when Azerbaijani troops had attempted to carry out fortification works with engineering equipment to “advance their battle positions”. It claims that Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on Armenian positions after they made moves to counter the works. The account by the Azerbaijani MOD states that at 10:00, Azerbaijani positions were subjected to fire from various caliber weapons by the Armenian armed forces. It says that the enemy was then suppressed with retaliation fire.
In a separate development, Armenia's MOD has reported that two unarmed servicemen, Arthur Nalbandyan and Aramayis Torozyan, went missing this morning in foggy conditions in the south east of Armenia. The possibility of Nalbandyan and Torozyan being in Azerbaijani territory is being considered with representatives of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan through Russian mediation.