Defense Ministry: Armenia lost 300 soldiers in April clashes

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry refuted Armenian media reports on the losses of the Armenian side during the April clashes, mentioning that the figures are much more than in the media reports.

“Reports of the Armenian media that losses of Armenia made up about 150 killed and more than 200 wounded is only part of the truth: these figures reflect only the loss of draftees in the Armenian army,” the ministry reported.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire of largecaliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers by Armenian army. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan’s counter-attack led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies were stopped on April 5 at 12:00 with mutual consent of the sides. However, Armenian side still continues violating the ceasefire.

The Defense Ministry stated that Armenia continues to deliberately conceal the number of draftee deaths from Nagorno-Karabakh and mercenaries.

“Armed opposition group Sasna Tsrer lost over 150 fighters, and more than 200 were injured during the April clashes, reported the Armenian media. Given these figures, in total, Armenian side lost 300 soldiers, and over 700 were wounded during the April events. The majority of the wounded soldiers are in a serious health condition and it doesn’t exclude the increase in the number of losses,” the ministry reported.

Some Armenian politicians and war criminals, regaining consciousness a few months after Azerbaijani army’s armed response, make absurd statements claiming that the Azerbaijani side, allegedly facing with strong opposition, was forced to cease hostilities.

“During the prevention of the Armenian provocation, the Armenian side felt only part of the Azerbaijani weapons’ power. We reiterate that if the Armenian side does not leave the occupied Azerbaijani territories, it will lead to the collapse of the military-criminal regime in Armenia, to the tragedy and senseless casualties among the Armenian people,” said the Ministry.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding districts.