Armenian government hides number of causalities in border incident
By Sara Rajabova
The Armenian side is deliberately hiding the number of causalities, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said.
Confirming the information disseminated about the losses in the Armenian army, the ministry said these losses are mainly non-combat.
"We keep track of the information disseminated by the Armenian media, but do not keep any statistics. Indeed, the Armenian side is deliberately hiding most of their losses, because the spread of such information in the Armenian society may displease the army and the country's leadership. Most of the losses are non-combat. Losses in the army are mainly related to lack of discipline, hazing, and spread of disease. We would like to note one fact: after the incident on May 28, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan has failed to disclose information about wounded troops and only speaks in general about the wounded, "the ministry reported.
Yerevan is trying to hide from the Armenian community its great losses on the contact line with the Azerbaijani Armed Forces occurred over a short period of time.
The Armenian Armed Forces have suffered numerous combat and non-combat losses over the past three or four months, a reliable source told Trend Agency on May 29.
During investigations, Trend Agency managed to get a list of the names of Armenia's casualties.
Armenian Defense Ministry is trying to hide its soldiers' deaths and injuries, but the gathered information shows that the losses that the Armenian army has suffered in such a short time are dozens.
The source said during ceasefire violations, attempts by Armenian sabotage and intelligence groups to cross the contact line, attacks on the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces units, and incidents that occurred between Armenians, the death toll of the enemy side reached 11, and three people were wounded.
Armenian colonel Garik Balian, senior lieutenant Haroutiun Safarian, lieutenant Ara Babayan, lance-corporal Eric Gasparyan, and soldiers Arthur Ohanjanian, Armen Hovhannisyan, Edik Shahnazaryan, Karen Galstyan, Arman Ghoukassian, Garnik Torosian and Nerses Karapetyan were killed. Servicemen Mger Hlgatyan, Varazdat Zakarian, and Ashot Grigoryan were injured.
Earlier, Ohanyan was forced to admit that during the incident on May 28, lance-corporal Eric Gasparyan was killed and several others were injured without revealing their names.
However, the information obtained from various sources shows that these facts do not fully reflect reality, as the number of dead and injured was reduced several times to escape chaos in Armenia.
An Armenian sabotage and intelligence group attempted to attack a post of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces located on the contact line of the two countries' troops in the direction of Fizuli region.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported the casualties on both sides. While thwarting the enemy's attempt, Azerbaijan's Armed Forces suffered casualties.
Fikret Mammadov, a 32-year-old captain of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces died in the line of duty, Khudaverdi Abilov, a 23-year-old ensign, was killed by a sniper, while Mehman Mirzazade, a 20-year-old soldier, was wounded.
The ceasefire on the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line has been broken 60 times in numerous directions on May 28, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on May 29.
The opposing side was silenced with retaliatory fire.
The Armenian armed forces have intensified ceasefire breaches on the contact line of between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops since the beginning of 2014. As a result of ceasefire breaches, several Azerbaijani soldiers were shot dead on the frontline.
Earlier, the ministry reported that ceasefire violations which have begun since January are mostly observed in the Fizuli, Agdam, Terter, Goranboy, Khojavend, and Jabrayil districts. In all cases, the enemy's shooting was answered by retaliatory fire.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for their immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results so far.