Official in Armenia reports on 1600 missing troops, says number is dropping

PanARMENIAN.Net - 1600 servicemen are missing after the completion of hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in fall 2020, but that number is dropping, director of Armenia's Insurance Foundation for Servicemen Varuzhan Avetikyan said Tuesday, February 23, according to Aravot.am.

Avetikyan said the families of missing soldiers can apply to the court for an order declaring a serviceman a missing person. The director of the fund said the number of the missing is decreasing, as some turn out to be among the prisoners of war, while others' remains or bodies are being recovered from the zone of hostilities.

Karabakh authorities said Monday that search and rescue operations in the zone of hostilities have been suspended indefinitely as the Azerbaijani side fails to authorize the mission.

Avetikyan also revealed that 1111 families have been paid compensation worth some AMD 12 billion after the completion of the 44-day war in Karabakh in November, and that those numbers continue to grow with each passing week.