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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan hands over to Armenian side 106 bodies of people killed in Nagorno-Karabakh

President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Araik Arutyunyan said that the search for those missing and the bodies of those killed continues

YEREVAN, February 16. /TASS/. Azerbaijan has handed over to the Armenian side the bodies of 106 Armenian soldiers killed during the autumn conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Araik Arutyunyan said on Tuesday.

"Under the agreements on humanitarian cooperation and with the mediation of Russian peacekeeping forces, the Azerbaijani side today handed over to us the bodies of 106 people who were killed during the 44-day war," he wrote on his Facebook account. He also added that the search for those missing and the bodies of those killed continues.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. Apart from that, a number of districts came over to Baku’s control.

Following the deployment of Russian peacekeepers, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh stabilized, with only one ceasefire violation being reported. Russian peacekeepers have helped tens of thousands of people who had to flee the area during the hostilities return to their homes.

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Nagorno-Karabakh

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