Chief of General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces Accuses Azerbaijani Soldiers of Brutal Murder of Armenian Servicewoman

During a new escalation, Azerbaijani soldiers brutally killed an Armenian servicewoman. Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Eduard Asryan stated this at a meeting with foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations on September 16, News.am reports.

"I draw your attention to the atrocities committed by units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, their servicemen in our combat positions, against our servicemen, even female servicemen. I have these photos and videos on my phone, I can show you. <…> I will show you this video, there are no words to describe it all, it shows how they dismembered a female serviceman, cut off her legs, fingers, stripped her naked, this is simply the last degree of atrocity," Asryan said.

According to the OC Media publication, the video that Asryan spoke about was filmed by Azerbaijani soldiers and was distributed on social networks. It shows the bodies of Armenian soldiers, including two women. One of the women is naked, with an inscription on her chest and stomach (former Armenian Human Rights Commissioner Arman Tatoyan said that the name of the Azerbaijani special forces unit "Yashma" was written on the woman's body). The woman's fingers were cut off and stuffed into her mouth, and her eye was gouged out.

The US-based Armenian Diaspora publication Asbarez writes that the body in the video belongs to 36-year-old Anush Apetyan, a mother of three. She was reportedly seized in the city of Jermuk, raped and tortured.

• A new escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan occurred on the night of September 13. Yerevan accused the Azerbaijani military of shelling cities and villages near the border between the countries. Baku claims that the shelling was a response to a "large-scale provocation" by Armenia.
• Unlike previous escalations, the current conflict did not involve the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian General Staff said that Azerbaijani forces had entered Armenian territory to a depth of 7.5 kilometers near the city of Jermuk.
• Armenia reported 135 deaths as a result of the escalation, Azerbaijan reported 77 dead soldiers, as well as one dead civilian. The CSTO decided to send its mission to the conflict area to "assess the current situation."