Search and rescue operations attempting to locate corpses and missing persons in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) were halted by Azerbaijan on Feb. 15 and have not resumed since, the Artsakh State Service of Emergency Situations reported.
“This is the first time after the ceasefire that the search operations have halted for such a long period,” the agency said in a report.
Azerbaijan suspended the operations for victims of the Second Karabakh War in territories under its control. The Azerbaijani government has not provided any explanation for why they halted the search operations.
Since the signing of the trilateral agreement that effectively ended the war in November, search and rescue operations have halted several times due to ceasefire violations, explosions of land mines, and poor weather conditions. However, this is the first time since November that search and rescue operations have been halted for such a long period of time.
Thus far, 1,485 bodies of servicemen and civilians have been retrieved according to Artsakh’s State Service for Emergencies.