Armenia’s Army Chief of Staff Edward Asryan on Monday told reporters that Armenia lost dozens of defensive positions during Azerbaijan’s large-scale attack on Armenia’s sovereign territory in September.
He said that the positions that were lost were mainly in Nerqin Hand, Jermuk, Iskhanasar and Kurakan in Armenia’s Gegharkunink, Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces.
Asryan refused to provide an exact number and instead in what seemed to be an angry retort to the reporters he said: “I can’t recall the numbers—50, 60 or 70. I cannot comment on what people mean by this or that number.”
He added, however, that while the situation in the border regions remained “relatively calm,” Azerbaijani forces continued to violate the ceasefire agreement.
“Violations of the ceasefire have been mainly recorded in the eastern direction, in Kutakan and Kakhakni, Sotk sectors, and in Vayots Dzor, in Jermuk direction. The violations of the ceasefire regime are done on purpose, by which the enemy is attempting to prevent the implementation of engineering work by us, because we have initiated large-scale works, we are reinforcing our positions. The enemy also fires irregular shots during adverse weather conditions,” Asryan said.
He also complained that the Azerbaijani forces are preventing search operations by Armenian authorities to recover the remains of soldiers killed during the September 13 attacks.
Astryan said that Azerbaijan had returned the remains of 10 soldiers, and argued that if allowed to conduct the search and recovery operations the number of missing people may be reduced because DNA testing could provide more answers.
“I can state that the Azerbaijani side did not give the appropriate permission for our divisions to enter and conduct search operations,” said Asryan, who described an incident, in which Armenian drones had spotted the remains of an Armenian solider in the village of Kutakan in the Gegharkunik province. The soldier’s body was near an Azerbaijani military post, he said, adding that the Armenian units were not given permission to enter the area and retrieve the remains.
