Armenia has completed an investigation into the April 10 skirmish at the border with Azerbaijan in which one Azerbaijani serviceman was wounded, concluding that the gunfire exchange occurred because of the violation of border service rules by several Armenian servicemen.
In a statement issued on Friday Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said that a conscript of the Armenian army manning the border near the village of Nerkin Khndzoresk in Armenia’s southern Syunik province together with border guards tried to help a local resident recover his flock of sheep that had crossed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory while grazing.
The NSS said that “they attempted to cross the state border of the Republic of Armenia and return the flock, thus violating the rules of border service.”
It said that the reckless actions of the Armenian conscript identified only by his initials as Y. K. and unnamed border guards caused “significant damage”, including unnecessary shooting in the mentioned section of the border.
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“People’s lives and health were exposed to obvious danger, the described actions caused a threat to the security of the state, as well as a state of the lack of proper control in the mentioned section of the state border,” the statement said.
The NSS also noted that a soldier of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan was wounded as a result of the incident.
It added that criminal proceedings had been initiated at the Investigative Committee and a preliminary investigation was ongoing to establish the circumstances of the incident and “bring those responsible to justice.”
The Investigative Committee told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they have already initiated criminal proceedings under a Criminal Code article dealing with “violation of the rules of border service.”
Gor Abrahamian, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, said that a preliminary investigation was being carried out in order to establish the circumstances of the case and make “legal assessments.”
The Investigative Committee said, however, that no one had yet been indicted as part of the criminal investigation.
Immediately after the incident on April 10, the NSS expressed readiness to conduct a joint investigation with the border troops of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side did not respond to the offer.
The incident occurred amid tensions observed along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border since April 5 that both sides blamed on each other.
The last time Azerbaijan reported the wounding of its soldier by Armenian forces in February it launched a “revenge operation”, killing four Armenian soldiers and wounding another one in retaliation.
Immediately after the border shooting on February 12, in which an Azerbaijani serviceman was wounded, Armenia also pledged to investigate the circumstances of the incident, but reported no results of such an investigation subsequently.