Karabakh’s National Security Service (NSS) said the 65-year-old Seyran Sargsian was captured in the no-man’s-land outside the town of Chartar before being murdered at a nearby Azerbaijani army post.
An NSS statement said the “criminal actions” of Azerbaijani troops were caught on camera from the Armenian side of the current “line of contact” in and around Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed, meanwhile, that an “individual of Armenian origin” attacked an Azerbaijani soldier in an attempt to steal his weapon. It said the soldier acted in self-defense and shot the man.
The authorities in Stepanakert dismissed the claim, saying that the Azerbaijani military is trying to justify its “barbaric terrorist act.”
Armenia also strongly condemned the “deliberate” killing. The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said Azerbaijani attacks on Karabakh civilians are becoming “systematic” and show that “it is impossible to guarantee the physical security of Artsakh’s Armenians under Azerbaijani control or jurisdiction.”
Both sides said they notified Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Karabakh about the incident.
Sargsian is the third Karabakh civilian shot dead by Azerbaijani forces in less than two months.
The previous incident occurred on November 8 when four Karabakh Armenian utility workers repaired a water pipe outside the Azerbaijani-controlled town of Shushi (Shusha). One of them was gunned down while the three others wounded as a result. Baku did not deny that the civilians were shot by an Azerbaijani serviceman but blamed the Armenian side for the shooting condemned by the U.S. State Department.
In recent months, Karabakh authorities have also periodically accused Azerbaijani troops of opening small arms fire at Karabakh towns and villages located close to the “line of contact.” They have said that Baku wants to intimidate Karabakh Armenians and cause them to leave the disputed territory.