Masked Azerbaijani Diversants Armed with Automatic Weapons Emerge from Behind Rocks: New Details

The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh has published a report regarding the terrorist act carried out by an Azerbaijani armed forces diversion group on March 5, 2023.

The report summarizes the facts gathered by the Human Rights Defender's institution about the terrorist act, which were collected as a result of conducted investigations, from competent authorities, and open sources.

According to the gathered facts, the premeditated terrorist act took place on March 5 around 10:00 am. A police vehicle departed from Stepanakert around 09:30 am, previously parked in front of the administrative building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Artsakh. The vehicle crew consisted of 4 police officers: Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan, Major David Danielyan, Lieutenant Ararat Gasparyan, and Lieutenant David Hovhannisyan.

It is clearly evident from the gathered facts that the vehicle was traveling from Stepanakert, thus the Azerbaijani claims that the Armenian side was transporting weapons and ammunition from the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh by vehicle are baseless and false.

In the police vehicle departing from Stepanakert, there were only official documents and their service weapons. After traveling for approximately 30-40 minutes, the vehicle crew noticed that rocks were piled on the roadway, obstructing traffic. The vehicle stopped.

From behind the rocks, five members of the Azerbaijani diversion group emerged, dressed in military uniforms, masked, and armed with automatic weapons, aiming their guns at the vehicle. The driver attempted to turn the vehicle around, but at the same moment, the aforementioned five members of the Azerbaijani diversion group from the front, as well as another group of 10 members hiding on the right and left side of the road, began to open fire on the vehicle.

The shooting lasted for about 10 minutes. An external examination of the vehicle clearly shows that hundreds of bullets were fired towards it by the Azerbaijani diversion group.

After the gunfire ceased, three members of the Azerbaijani diversion group approached the vehicle, presumably inspecting it, while firing warning shots towards the driver and the passenger sitting next to him. However, according to the testimony of the surviving police officer, the Azerbaijanis did not open the rear door of the vehicle, presumably not noticing that there were also passengers in the back compartment.

Subsequently, the members of the Azerbaijani diversion group began to retreat from the crime scene towards their armed positions located on the opposing hillside. During their withdrawal, due to return fire from the Armenian side, there were casualties and injuries among the Azerbaijani diversion group members.

About 30-40 minutes after the terrorist attack, representatives of the Russian peacekeeping forces arrived on the scene. With their intervention, the shooting ceased.

After the intervention of the Russian side, the Azerbaijani side continued to withdraw, taking with them the deceased and wounded members of the Azerbaijani diversion group.

The Russian peacekeepers provided first aid to A. Gasparyan and D. Hovhannisyan on the spot and transported them to the hospital. As a result of the Azerbaijani attack, Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major David Danielyan were killed on the spot, while Lieutenant Ararat Gasparyan succumbed to his injuries while being transported to the hospital. Lieutenant David Hovhannisyan sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and is currently at the republican medical center. He has undergone surgery and is in the intensive care unit under medical supervision; his life is not in danger.

The report has been prepared in both open and closed formats in Armenian and English. It has been sent to international organizations and human rights bodies. The report is available on the official website of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh at the following link.