Republic World

Nov 14 2020

Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia on November 14 said that at least 2,317 servicemen are dead in six weeks of clashes with Azerbaijan armed forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. "To date, our forensic service has examined the corpses of 2,317 dead servicemen, including unidentified ones," Armenian health ministry spokeswoman Alina Nikoghosyan said in a statement. The casualties surged from nearly 1,000 previous deaths of Armenian soldiers confirmed by the ministry.  “On behalf of all the staff of the Ministry of Health, we express our condolences to all the lost mothers, fathers and their relatives,” Nikoghosyan said. Azerbaijan's defense ministry is yet to disclose military casualties. 

Meanwhile, the villagers in Charektar on the border with the neighbouring district of Martakert scorched houses ahead of the Azerbaijan army takeover. Huge flames erupted outside of Nagorno-Karabakh as civilians fled their homes to escape to Armenia before the land was conquered by Azerbaijan as part of peace negotiations. Unwilling to hand over the territory to the Turks, civilians launched a mass exodus setting fire, sending properties into thick plumes of smoke as they evacuated. As many as 10 homes in Charitar were torched as the agreement to return Armenian territory as al-Baggar was negotiated, as well as the Agdam region by 20 November, and the Lachin region by December 1 occupied by the Armenians since 1990s conflict, according to sources of Anadolu Agency. 

Read: Azerbaijan Downs Russian Helicopter In Armenia

Read: Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree To End Fight In Nagorno-Karabakh

In accordance with the pact brokered between the ex-Soviet rivals to end hostilities, Russian military officials dispatched the Russian peacekeepers and observers to station at the Nagorno-Karabakh disputed territory. Nearly 2,000 troops were to be deployed at 16 observation posts in mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor, as per sources Associated Press. However, the terms of a cease-fire agreement that gave territorial concessions to Azerbaijan was protested by thousands that flooded Armenia’s capital.

Civilians stormed into government buildings and demanded that the Moscow-brokered agreement be invalidated and the control must be handed over to ethnic Armenian forces. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the agreement as a "victory" for his country and a "defeat of Armenia”, acknowledging Baku's military. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, on the other hand, called the truce "unspeakably painful”.