At least 28 pro-Turkey Syrians dead in Karabakh: Monitor

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 28 pro-Turkey Syrian rebel fighters have been killed in clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagornօ-Karabakh, a Britain-based monitor said Friday, October 2, according to AFP (via Al Arabiya).

They were among more than 850 combatants from pro-Ankara Syrian factions that Turkey has sent to fight for the Azeris since last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Relatives of three fighters confirmed to AFP they had been killed, while social media users shared pictures of four fighters who had died in the clashes.

Armenia has accused Turkey of dispatching Syrian fighters to fight on the Azeri side in Karabakh. French President Emmanuel Macron demanded Friday that Turkey explain what he said was the arrival of jihadist fighters in Azerbaijan.

Intelligence reports had established that 300 Syrian fighters drawn from "jihadist groups" from the Syrian city of Aleppo had passed through Gaziantep in Turkey en route for Azerbaijan, he said.

Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. International and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of civilian settlements.