Azerbaijan hands body of fallen Armenian soldier over to Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Azerbaijani side on Wednesday, April 20, at 4:00pm, handed the body of a deceased Armenian serviceman over to the Karabakh side near Bash-Karvend, Karabakh’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons said in a statement.

The process was organized with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

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.

The Armenian side has suffered 77 combat and 15 non-combat losses, 122 more were wounded. One soldier is still missing.

The Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multipl e rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 14 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drone, whereas the Armenian side's photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 95 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 39 more have been wounded. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.

The parties to the conflict agreed on a bilateral cessation of fire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.