https://www.azatutyun.am
Ethnic Armenian military authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have confirmed the death of a senior commander as military and civilian casualties in the armed conflict with Azerbaijan continued to rise on Monday.
The military’s press service on November 2 released the names of 11 more servicemen killed in action since the start of hostilities on September 27, which raises the total death toll among ethnic Armenian forces to 1,174.
Among those 11 is also deputy commander of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Defense Army, Colonel Artur Sarkisian. Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Jalal Harutiunian was replaced last week after being wounded.
Azerbaijan does not reveal its military casualties, considering them a wartime secret.
During November 2 the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides have also accused each other of targeting civilian areas.
According to spokesperson of Armenia’s Defense Ministry Shushan Stepanian, at around 6:10 pm Azerbaijan’s armed forces opened artillery fire in the direction of the positions of the armed forces of Armenia and the settlement of David Bek in the country’s southern Syunik province. She said that one civilian was killed and two others were wounded by the artillery fire.
An RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent working in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that the town of Martakert in the northeast of the region was again shelled by Azerbaijan’s armed forces today.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on November 2 that several civilian settlements in the Tartar region inside Azerbaijan had been shelled by ethnic Armenian troops.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the ongoing conflict.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has called for an international inquiry into the alleged participation of mercenaries from Syria and Libya on Azerbaijan’s side in the conflict.
“This issue should be the subject of an international inquiry,” Pashinian said on Facebook after the Armenian side had shown videos of interrogations of two Syrian fighters that Armenians say were taken prisoner on the battlefield.
Both Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, have denied the involvement of mercenaries in the hostilities.