Nagorno-Karabakh Claims 56 Soldiers Killed in Clashes Since April 2

The defense ministry of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said 56 servicemen had been killed since the outbreak of hostilities on April 2.

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) – The de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has claimed 56 military personnel have been killed in combat since April 2, the republic’s Defense Ministry said Monday.

“According to information on April 7, we have lost 36 people. Since then we have found or the Azerbaijani side has handed over the bodies of another 20, bringing the total to 56 killed,” the NKR Defense Ministry said.

According to the Defense Ministry, several bodies handed over by Azerbaijan show signs the soldiers were still alive when taken prisoner and were killed later.

On April 5, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a bilateral ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, which came into force at noon on the same day.

Azerbaijan does not recognize the ethnically Armenian self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and considers the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army to be a part of the Armed Forces of Armenia.

On April 2, Armenia and Azerbaijan declared a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku and Yerevan traded blame for breaching the truce in the conflict and reported heavy fighting in the area.

Initially, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The conflict escalated further in September 2015, with the sides blaming one another for violating the truce.

On Sunday, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti that the Azerbaijani forces had violated the ceasefire in the breakaway region, adding that the Nagorno-Karabakh forces "mostly refrained from response actions."