Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 29
Trend:
Information of the Armenian media that during the armed clashes in April 2016 with Azerbaijan, 150 Armenian servicemen were killed and more than 200 were wounded is only a part of the truth: these figures reflect only the losses among the draftees for Armenia’s armed forces, said Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry Aug. 29.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry had said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
The Armenian side continues to intentionally conceal the number of deaths among the draftees from the Nagorno-Karabakh and mercenaries, noted the ministry.
The Armenian armed opposition group Sasna Tsrer lost over 150 soldiers and more than 200 soldiers were wounded during the April clashes, according to Armenian media.
Taking into account these figures, in total, 300 servicemen of the Armenian side were killed and more than 700 were wounded during the April events, said the Azerbaijani ministry.
The majority of the wounded soldiers are in a serious health condition and it doesn’t exclude the increase in the number of losses, noted the press service of the ministry.
Some Armenian politicians and war criminals, regaining consciousness a few months after the Azerbaijani army’s armed response, make absurd statements that allegedly Azerbaijan, was forced to cease hostilities.
“The Armenian side felt only part of the Azerbaijani weapons’ power,” said the press service. “We reiterate that if the Armenian side doesn’t leave the occupied Azerbaijani lands, it will lead to the collapse of the military-criminal regime in Armenia, to the tragedy and senseless casualties of the Armenian people.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.