Young Karabakh resident accompanying French reporters killed

PanARMENIAN.Net - A young man accompanying Le Monde reporters in Nagorno-Karabakh was killed in Azerbaijan's shelling of civilian settlements, Armenian journalist Hermine Virabyan has said, according to Hetq.am.

Virabyan herself fell under Azerbaijani fire which left two French journalists and several others from Armenia injured on Thursday, October 1.

According to Virabyan, the reporters from Le Monde arrived in Stepanakert, Karabakh's capital, on September 30 and left for Matuni the next day to report on residential buildings damaged in fire. and talk to the locals about the situation.

A young Martuni resident named Grisha joined the group to help them with local tips. When the crew visited one damaged home and were returning to the car, they heard the sound of shells and fled in different directions.

"My French colleagues were calling for help. I saw them lying on the ground, one of them covered in blood," Virabyan said

Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling positions and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty.