Body of killed Armenian soldier repatriated from Baku to Yerevan

YEREVAN, November 18, /ARKA/. The body of an Armenian serviceman who was killed in clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops on eastern border of Armenia on November 16 was repatriated to Armenia on November 17 evening from Azerbaijani capital Baku to Yerevan by a special flight, the Armenian Defense Ministry said, adding that the repatriation of the body was mediated by the former commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, who serves now as Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation.

On the same day Armenia’s Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan received Rustam Muradov and presented the details of the battles provoked by Azerbaijan. Papikyan also provided information on the Armenian servicemen taken prisoners.

An agreement was reached to continue intensive work both for the return of the captured servicemen and for the search for the missing.

On November 16 Azerbaijani forces attempted to break through the Armenia’s state border before being repelled by Armenian troops, the Armenian Defense Ministry said November 17 y morning, adding that the ceasefire agreement, brokered by Russia was generally respected.

It said the enemy has up to 70 killed and wounded servicemen, as well as significant losses of military hardware, including 4 armored personnel carriers, 1 armored vehicle Sandcat, and 5 Russian-made trucks.

It said also there was verified data about one Armenian victim, private Meruzhan Harutyunyan, a contract soldier born in 1991, Another 12 servicemen were captured,’ the ministry said, while communication with 24 more servicemen was lost during the clashes and their fate was currently unknown. -0-