Karabakh defense army reports its casualties: 20 dead, 72 injured
YEREVAN. April 4 (Interfax) - Armenia has lost 20 troops since the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone escalated the night before April 2, Stepanakert says.
"Since April 1, as a result of clashes on the contact line, 20 troops have been killed and 72 inured. Armenia also lost seven tanks," the defense army of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday.
Furthermore, 26 NKR troops have gone missing.
"The NKR defense army has lost five positions in the south and three in the north," reads the statement.
Azerbaijan's losses have amounted to "300 troops, 18 tanks, three IFVs [infantry fighting vehicles], six UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], two helicopters and other armament," the NKR army said.
"According to credible data, the Azeri army has amassed a significant amount of Turkish weapons and employs Turkish instructors. The Azeri army has advanced no more than 300 meters from any point of the contact line," the statement reads.
The situation in the Karabakh conflict zone sharply escalated early on April 2. The hostilities began with the use of aircraft and artillery. The parties accused each other of violating the truce on the contact line.
According to the United Nations, at least 30 soldiers and three civilians had been killed by Monday morning. Unofficial sources put an estimated number of injured civilians and troops at over 200, according to a report published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
According to the latest reports from both sides, the fighting continues. Each party to the conflict reported having sustained limited losses, and significant ones on the enemy side.
At the same time, both sides said on Monday, that they are ready for ceasefire. Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hikmet Hajiyev, said that Baku can cease fire, provided the Armenian armed forces leave the seized Azeri lands in line with the UN SC resolutions.
For its part, the Armenian Defense Ministry said it supports calls for a ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone, but that requires drafting terms of a truce in order "to remove/ separate the warring forces and devise mechanisms to keep the truce in place."