Putin says Karabakh conflict leaves nearly 5,000 people dead

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that weeks of fighting over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh province had left close to 5,000 people dead as world leaders scrambled to broker a truce.

The disputed region in Azerbaijan is controlled by Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan, who declared independence as the Soviet Union fell in a conflict that erupted again into full-scale fighting last month.

Armenian Prime Minister and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev have rebuffed calls for peace and fighters on the ground have left two ceasefires in tatters after accusing the other side of violations.

Putin said in a televised appearance Thursday that both sides had incurred losses nearing 2,000 people in fighting that has seen thousands of people displaced and both sides levy allegations of war crimes.

“The total number of deaths is already nearing 5,000,” Putin said.

Armenian separatists and the

Azerbaijani military claim to have inflicted devastating losses on the other side in terms of military hardware and military personnel.

Yet the confirmed death toll from the most recent outbreak of fighting that erupted on September 27 is just under 1,000 including civilians – a figure that is believed to be much lower than the real human cost since Azerbaijan has not disclosed its military fatalities.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly boasted of military gains after nearly a month of fighting and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan conceded this week his country was facing ‘a difficult situation’ on the frontline.

Aliyev made the significant claim Thursday – denied by Armenia – that his military now had full control of the border with Iran.

“The state border between Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been completely secured through liberation of the Agbend settlement,” he said on Twitter.