Baku confirms death of 12 solders, loss of helicopter and tank

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense confirmed information on heavy losses in the course of military actions on the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh on April 1 and 2.

“12 soldiers were killed in action; MI-24 helicopter employed to strike the rival positions was downed and a tank rendered inoperative,” the Azeri Ministry statement said.

Earlier, Baku was persisting in denying reports on the downed helicopter and other losses.

According to the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army, Azerbaijan lost 2 helicopters, 3 tanks and 2 unmanned drones. The Defence Army published the picture of one of the downed Azeri drones.

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, using artillery, armored fighting vehicles and air force equipment among other weapons.

Aside from the battles on the frontline, the rival has also carried out artillery strikes on civilian settlements and places of permanent deployment of several military units.

On April 2, at around 8:30 am, the rival used BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher in the Martuni direction of the contact line. 12-year-old Vaghinak Grigoryan was killed in the shelling, two more children were wounded.

Earleir, the Nagorno Karabakh special forces identified an Azerbaijani subversive group near the Levonarkh settlement and threw the saboteurs back to their positions.

According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, the rival troops retreated after suffering several human losses.

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