Baku, Azerbaijan, May 13
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Azerbaijani Armed Forces killed more than 320 Armenian servicemen during the April clashes on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Vagif Dargahli, spokesman for Azerbaijan's defense ministry, said.
He made the remarks during the hearings in the Azerbaijani parliament on the "Recent developments on the line of contact: Problems of the international humanitarian law."
He added that more than 500 Armenian soldiers were injured, 30 enemy tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as more than 25 artillery pieces were destroyed.
Dargahli said that Armenia was carrying out various provocative actions prior to the April events as well. For example, in 2014, immediately after the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Armenian side held large-scale military exercises in Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said.
Dargahli further reminded that Armenia has been shelling Azerbaijani civilians as well.
The shelling of civilians became frequent since March 2016, said Dargahli, adding that in response to these actions Azerbaijani Armed Forces inflicted strikes on the enemy positions, having destroyed numerous manpower and military equipment of the enemy.
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.