YEREVAN, October 30. /TASS/. More than 200 people died in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of hostilities in September, a spokesman for the Armenian Investigative Committee said on Monday.
"<…> Using prohibited warfare methods, not discriminating between civilians and the military, the Azerbaijani army staged a wide-scale attack claiming the lives of more than 200 soldiers and civilians," Armenia’s Public Television quoted him as saying.
Apart from that, in his words, 12 civilians and 30 servicemen are still missing. "We recorded 14 cases of torture on 12 soldiers and two civilians. We have the horrific video," he noted.
According to the Investigative Committee, sixty-four civilians died of hunger or a lack of medical treatment during the mass exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and immediately after it.
On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Russia called on the conflicting sides to prevent civilian casualties and return to a diplomatic solution. On September 20, an agreement was reached to stop hostilities. On September 21, representatives of Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."
On September 28, President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Samvel Shakhramanyan signed a decree dissolving the republic from January 1, 2024. People were asked to consider Baku’s reintegration terms and make up their minds about whether stay or leave the area. According to Yerevan, more than 100,000 out of Karabakh’s 120,000 population have left Karabakh for Armenia.