YEREVAN, August 24. /TASS/: The Armenian side lost 3,773 servicemen during the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, while another 243 are still missing in action, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan revealed in parliament during the introduction of a new government on Tuesday.
"We are submitting a new program by the government in an emergency situation where as a consequence of Azerbaijan’s aggression in Karabakh, we lost 3,773 people, while the fate of 243 remains unknown, and some prisoners have not yet returned home," he stated.
In the fall of 2020, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated with armed clashes occurring on the disputed territory. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held, a number of regions would be controlled by Azerbaijan, and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region along the line of engagement and the Lachin corridor.
The situation at the border has been tense since May 12, 2021. Back then, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces had attempted to carry out "certain operations" in the Syunik Province in a bid to "redefine the border." Both parties have been reporting sporadic incidents ever since.
