The number of ceasefire violations on the contact line between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan has decreased, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, December 22, A1+ reports.

“Karabakh troops have registered some 10-20 ceasefire violations that are considered to be routine,” Artsrun Hovhannisyan told a press conference.

According to the spokesperson, Azeri troops have mainly killed contract soldiers, and not conscripts, aiming to “exhaust our gold fund.”

Dwelling upon the current situation on the contact line, Hovhannisyan said that escalation is usually conditioned by political motives.

“The latter might result from the Presidential meeting, or some inner political developments in Azerbaijan, also perhaps targeting the Armenian society,” he said.

Asked about the number of casualties on the Azerbaijani side, the spokesman said that the data will be carefully collected by year-end.

“The only thing we know for sure is that the Azeri side has suffered over 200 casualties. The final number should be compiled from various sources,” the official noted.

According to Hovhannisyan, Azerbaijan’s usage of tanks is not as dangerous as that of artillery. “Not usually deployed on the frontline, tanks are brought to the positions specially. An even more serious escalation was the use of the D-30 howitzer. Azerbaijan has already used every possible ammunition type, with the retaliation on Armenian side not necessarily made with the same weapons,” he noted.

Commenting on the public's unwillingness to understand the reason behind casualties, Hovhannisyan said: “This is war, not ceasefire. In current state of affairs, the operational effectiveness is determined not by 1 or 2 casualties, but by disruption of the rival’s intentions."