Karabakh escalation may trigger major conflict in Caucasus: CSTO chief

PanARMENIAN.Net - Escalation of violence in the Nagorno Karabakh can lead to a major conflict in the Caucasus region, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said.

“Resumption of hostilities may trigger a major conflict in the region, so the leaders –Azerbaijan, first if all – should be fully conscious of the matter,” Nikolay Bordyuzha said in an interview with Sputnik – Serbia.

According to him, CSTO is using all of its political potential in promoting the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“We need to take every effort to prevent the conflict from escalation and bring the military actions and shelling to a stop,” Bordyuzha stressed.

The parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at 12:00 midday, April 5.

Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

As many as 20 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 72 were wounded in the course of military operations. In addition, 4 civilians and 5 volunteers have been killed.

26 Karabakh soldiers have gone missing so far.

As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 29 tanks and over 5 armored vehicles, including an IFV, as well as 1 TOS-1A Solntsepyok multiple rocket launcher, 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 2 military helicopters and 7 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Seven Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.