Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

The parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have retrieved the bodies of the military personnel left on the battlefield in accordance with the agreement, which was reached through the mediation of relevant international organizations.

Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People carried out the process through the mediation of OSCE representatives and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on April 10.

ICRC also supported two previous operations that were held on April 8 and 9. These operations took place following an agreement between the sides and in coordination with the OSCE as well.

"Our priority is to help the families of those missing in action and who are still do not know the fate of their loved ones," said Patrick Vial, Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. "It was also important for the sides to have the bodies returned and so provide answers for the families."

The ICRC has been present in the region since 1992 in relation to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As the conflict escalated on 2 April, the ICRC offered its services to respond to the humanitarian needs and to act as a neutral intermediary between the sides.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on April 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides.

However, despite the agreement, Armenian Armed Forces continue to violate ceasefire on the contact line of troops. Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People said the enemy also violated the ceasefire during the process of exchanging the bodies of the military personnel.

--

Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz