Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 7
By Samir Ali – Trend:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced the number of released hostages taken during the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
About 700 people taken hostage since 1992 up till now have been returned to the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides.
Not only servicemen, but also civilians are among those released.
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.
