Armenia refutes Azeri claims of "hundreds" of human losses

Armenia refutes Azeri claims of

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan's reports on "major gains" in Karabakh, "dozens of equipment and hundreds of human losses" by the Armenian side are completely false, the Armenian Defense Ministry declared Saturday, April 2.

"Forced to acknowledge its losses, Baku seeks to justify itself," Ministry's spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post.

In order to obtain reliable information on what is going on in Karabakh conflict zone, the Ministry urges the public to follow official Armenian publications.

The Nagorno Karabakh Foreign Ministry, in turn, issued a statement, stating that such an escalation of tension by Azerbaijan is fraught with unpredictable consequences.

"Karabakh Defense Army is taking all necessary measures to force Azerbaijan to cease hostilities. Azerbaijan, which has once again initiated irresponsible and senseless adventurism, bears full responsibility for possible consequences.

We urge the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-office to publicly and strongly condemn Azerbaijan for the systematic escalation of the situation, violation of peace and stability in the region," the statement reads.

On the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, using artillery, armored fighting vehicles and air force equipment among other weapons.

Aside from the battles on the frontline, the rival has also carried out artillery strikes on civilian settlements and places of permanent deployment of several military units.

On April 2, at around 8:30 am, the rival used BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher in the Martuni direction of the contact line. 12-year-old Vaghinak Grigoryan was killed in the shelling, two more children were wounded.

Earleir, the Nagorno Karabakh special forces identified an Azerbaijani subversive group near the Levonarkh settlement and threw the saboteurs back to their positions.

According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, the rival troops retreated after suffering several human losses.

Read aslo:Azerbaijani army suffered over 200 losses Apr 1-2: Karabakh (video)

Azerbaijan used Grad rocket launcher to bomb Karabakh school: hospital

 Top stories
The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says.
Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer.
A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says.
London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised.
Partner news
---